Sacked Braverman urges UK PM Sunak to ‘change course urgently’
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Ms Braverman accused Mr Sunak of breaking his promise to clamp down on immigration, in an explosive letter following her firing.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON - Outspoken British lawmaker Suella Braverman launched a withering attack on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday, urging him to change course to avoid election defeat and slamming his record on immigration and anti-Semitism.
Mrs Braverman, a favourite of the right wing of the ruling Conservative party, fired the broadside in a three-page letter to Mr Sunak a day after he sacked her as interior minister.
Mr Sunak dismissed Mrs Braverman in a reshuffle of his top team on Monday after she accused police of left-wing bias
They were the latest in a growing list of controversial comments that were viewed as red meat for Tory right-wingers.
In her letter, Mrs Braverman accused Mr Sunak of “equivocation, disregard and a lack of interest” over several policies, including cutting immigration and the teaching of gender in schools.
“You have manifestly and repeatedly failed to deliver on every single one of these key policies,” she wrote.
“Either your distinctive style of government means you are incapable of doing so. Or, as I must surely conclude now, you never had any intention of keeping your promises,” she added.
Mrs Braverman referenced Wednesday’s much-anticipated Supreme Court ruling on the legality of the government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
‘Weak’
She called Mr Sunak’s rejection of withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights as a way to push through the scheme a “betrayal”.
“You opted instead for wishful thinking as a comfort blanket to avoid having to make hard choices. This irresponsibility has wasted time and left the country in an impossible position,” Ms Braverman wrote.
The former interior minister – who was previously sacked from Ms Liz Truss’ short-lived administration – also said Mr Sunak had failed to rise to the challenge of “vicious anti-semitism and extremism” in London, following Hamas’ Oct 7 attack on Israel.
She said his response to pro-Palestinian marches, including not banning them, had been “uncertain, weak and lacking in the qualities of leadership this country needs”.
Mrs Braverman – who regularly waded into so-called “culture wars” during her tenure – is reportedly positioning herself to run for the Tory leadership if Mr Sunak is forced out after the next election.
Mr Sunak’s reshuffle, in which he brought back former prime minister David Cameron
The Conservatives lag well behind the main opposition Labour party in polls ahead of a nationwide vote expected in 2024 and have suffered several local election losses in 2023.
“Someone needs to be honest: your plan is not working, we have endured record election defeats, your resets have failed and we are running out of time. You need to change course urgently,” Mrs Braverman wrote. AFP
