DAVID BARRETT: What Suella Braverman wrote in her parting shot to Rishi Sunak… and why she wrote it
Suella Braverman‘s explosive 1,318-word resignation letter revealed a series of secrets from her time in Rishi Sunak‘s Cabinet.
The former home secretary levelled point-blank parting shots at the PM’s character and leadership, and delivered a blunt verdict on the Government’s chances of success in tackling the small boats crisis.
Here we look at what Mrs Braverman wrote… and analyse the background to the main points she raised with the Prime Minister…
Suella Braverman was sacked as home secretary by Rishi Sunak on Monday
In a blistering letter, the ex-Cabinet minister has now accused the PM of breaking a series of pledges on migration, the Rwanda asylum deal, Brexit and gender protections
THE BACKGROUND: Mrs Braverman reveals a previously unknown written deal with Rishi Sunak, setting out areas in which she says he agreed to back her.
These included several specific policies on immigration, as well as on post-Brexit agreements and protecting biological sex and ‘same sex spaces’.
She says Mr Sunak agreed to a ‘document with clear terms’ during his second leadership campaign in October last year, in exchange for her ‘pivotal’ support in his bid to take over from Liz Truss as Prime Minister. Mrs Braverman goes on to accuse him of then treating their deal with ‘equivocation, disregard and a lack of interest’.
Bombshell rating: 5/5
THE BACKGROUND: Mrs Braverman confirms for the first time that she wanted the Illegal Migration Act – passed earlier this year – to go much further.
She believed it would be necessary to disapply human rights law in illegal migration cases, making it easier to deport people.
But Mr Sunak insisted on ‘compromises’ in the legislation, she says.
READ MORE – Suella Braverman allies vow to bring down Rishi
Mrs Braverman asserts that, even if the Government wins its appeal over legal challenges to its Rwanda policy in the UK’s Supreme Court today, ministers will ‘struggle’ to implement it.
For the first time, the former home secretary publicly acknowledges the Rwanda scheme will be fraught with problems – painting a very different picture from what she had said while in office.
Attempts to remove small boat migrants to Rwanda will be ‘far from secure’ against legal challenge and lead to ‘months’ of delay because of what she describes as Mr Sunak’s ‘betrayal’ of their agreement.
Bombshell rating: 3/5
Mrs Braverman, in a letter she shared on social media, swiped that Mr Sunak had been ‘rejected’ by Tory members in summer of 2022
THE BACKGROUND: Mrs Braverman makes the remarkable claim that the Prime Minister failed to reply to ‘multiple’ letters in which she proposed a back-up plan to the Rwanda scheme.
She is not specific about what the scheme would have involved.
But her letter says she ‘repeatedly’ urged Mr Sunak to pass new laws that ‘would better secure us against the possibility of defeat’.
She accuses him of having ‘no appetite for doing what is necessary’.
Mrs Braverman confirms there is ‘no hope of flights this side of an election’ if the Supreme Court rules against the Government today.
Bombshell rating: 4/5
THE BACKGROUND: In the most damaging section of her letter, Mrs Braverman directly accuses Mr Sunak of placing the public at risk.
She reveals for the first time that she had lobbied for major changes in the law on protest marches and extremism.
READ MORE – Suella Braverman accuses Rishi Sunak of having ‘no Plan B’ if Rwanda migrant policy gets blocked by Supreme Court
Her letter even mentions a wholesale ban of such protests.
‘Rather than fully acknowledge the severity of this threat, your team disagreed with me for weeks that the law needed changing,’ she says.
Before Mrs Braverman’s sacking, the Home Office disputed that police lacked the powers to deal with extremism related to pro-Palestinian marches.
Her letter accuses Mr Sunak of putting off tough decisions, and adds: ‘In doing so, you have increased the very real risk these marches present to everyone else.’
In perhaps the most hard-hitting passage, she tells the PM: ‘I regret to say that your response has been uncertain, weak, and lacking in the qualities of leadership that this country needs.’
Bombshell rating: 5/5
THE BACKGROUND: Mrs Braverman always said she aspired to cut legal migration – such as the number of work and student visas granted by the Home Office.
But official data shows the number of migrants is actually going up, with net migration hitting a record 606,000 last year.
Her letter indicates she wanted to reform the student route. But there has only been tinkering at the margins while she was in office – the main change is that most students will be barred from bringing dependents to the UK from January.
Work visas have seen little reform, although immigration minister Robert Jenrick said last month he wants to raise the minimum salary that must be earned by foreign workers from the current £26,000 to about £34,500.Mrs Braverman’s letter suggests she wanted wholesale reform of legal migration – and that despite drawing up detailed policies for the PM’s approval, he ‘failed to deliver’.
Bombshell rating: 3/5
THE BACKGROUND: The payoff to Mrs Braverman’s letter is a sarcastic variant on the traditional pledge made by departing ministers to maintain their backing for the Government from the back benches. Instead she hints that she does not consider Mr Sunak to be following an ‘authentic’ Tory agenda.
Bombshell rating: 4/5
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