Suella Braverman sacked as home secretary over security breach
Suella Braverman has become the second senior cabinet minister to be sacked from Liz Truss’ government in less than a week, with Grant Shapps appointed as her replacement.
Braverman was asked to resign as home secretary this afternoon, first reported by The Guardian, after she sent an official Home Office document to a backbench MP – a breach of the ministerial code.
Braverman said in a resignation letter that the content of the document was already widely known to MPs, but that it was “right for me to go”, before launching a series of attacks on the PM.
In a thinly veiled attack on Truss’ faltering premiership, she wrote that “pretending we haven’t made mistakes, carrying on as if everyone can’t see that we have made them, and hoping things will magically come right is not serious politics”.
In a further attack on the Prime Minister, Braverman added: “It is obvious to everyone that we are going through a tumultuous time. I have concerns about the direction of this government.
“Not only have we broken key pledges that were promised to our voters, but I have had serious concerns about this government’s commitment to honouring manifesto commitments, such as reducing overall migration numbers and stopping illegal migration, particularly the dangerous small boat crossings.”
Braverman’s exit means two of the three most senior cabinet ministers in Truss’ government have been sacked in the past week, after Kwasi Kwarteng was pushed out as chancellor on Friday.
Former transport secretary Grant Shapps, who was just two weeks ago openly plotting Truss’ downfall, was appointed as home secretary this evening.
Shapps was a key backer of Rishi Sunak in the party leadership contest and had been putting together a spreadsheet of Tory MPs who were unhappy with Truss’ premiership.
The appointment of Shapps will be seen as a branch to more moderate Tory MPs, many of whom have been dismayed with Truss’ first seven weeks as PM.
Braverman is one of the leaders of the party’s Brexiteer right faction and has caused anger among moderates for her recent inflammatory statements on immigration.
She made headlines yesterday for saying it was the “Guardian reading, tofu-eating wokerati” who were at fault for Just Stop Oil protesters holding up traffic this week.
Tory MP Bob told LBC that he was “bemused as everyone else is” in reaction to the news.
“I want to apologise – I’m getting really fed up with this soap opera drama, like the rest of us,” he said.
Labour shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the government is “falling apart at the seams”.
“To appoint and then sack both your Home Secretary and Chancellor within 6 weeks is utter chaos. This is no way to run a government,” she said.