Suella Braverman, a well-known border hawk, is out as the British Home Secretary, after she argued with Prime Minister Liz Truss about the relaxation of visa restrictions.
In a report on Wednesday afternoon, the Guardian revealed that Braverman was leaving her post as Home Secretary, despite only having been appointed to the position when Truss became Prime Minister at the start of September.
According to sources reported by the Guardian, the removal was done “at the behest” of Jeremy Hunt, who took over as Chancellor of the Exchequer from Kwasi Kwarteng last week. Following the “mini-budget” proposed by Kwarteng collapsing, Hunt was put in charge of economic strategy, with sources adding that he was now “pulling the strings” at Downing Street.
In her resignation letter, Braverman claimed that she had resigned, and had not been pushed, but was instead leaving for accidentally sending an official government document from her personal email to a parliamentary colleague, which “constitutes a technical infringement of the rules.”
She slammed the Truss administration for having “broken key pledges… to our voters”:
“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 boats crossings… [The British people] deserve policing they can respect, an immigration policy they want and voted for in such unambiguous numbers at the last election, and laws which serve the public good, and not the interests of selfish protesters.”
My letter to the Prime Minister. pic.twitter.com/TaWO1PMOF2
— Suella Braverman MP (@SuellaBraverman) October 19, 2022
However, Braverman, who is of Indian descent, had clashed with Number 10 over her criticism of the Indian government’s demand a visa restriction relaxation for their nationals in Britain, as part of a free trade deal.
“I have concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India because I don’t think that’s what people voted for with Brexit,” she explained. “Look at migration in this country – the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants.”
According to further reports, including from Harry Cole, the political editor of The Sun, Braverman’s departure followed a “massive row” between her and Truss on Tuesday night over the relaxation of visas, with veteran broadcaster Andrew Neil arguing that she had simply used the technicality over the security breach to resign to hide that she had left over immigration problems.
NEW: what a tangled web they weave… Sources say Javid was in running for Home Sec after massive row between Suella and PM last night about relaxing visas – but forced out one of her closest advisers this morning so now likely to be Shapps
— Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) October 19, 2022
Looks like Braverman has used a technicality over security to resign as Home Secretary when the real reason was a bust up with Truss over immigration. Grant Shapps takes Home Office. The Centrists really are back in town.
— Andrew Neil (@afneil) October 19, 2022
Former Conservative MP Paul Goodman said that the visa bust-up between Braverman and Truss was “the mother of all rows,” as she had been “under pressure from Number Ten to announce liberalising migration plan which would make it easier for the [Office of Budget Responsibility] to say [the government] would hit their growth target.”
Sun political reporter Noa Hoffman further tweeted that Braverman was set to make a “major announcement about slashing student visa numbers” on Thursday.
Understand that the background to the @SuellaBraverman resignation was the mother of all rows about migration. Told she was under pressure from Number Ten to announce liberalising migration plan which would make it easier for OBR to say Gvt would hit growth target.
— Paul Goodman (@PaulGoodmanCH) October 19, 2022
Understand Suella was due to make a major announcement about slashing student visa numbers tomorrow
— Noa Hoffman (@hoffman_noa) October 19, 2022
Grant Shapps was later announced as her replacement. Nigel Farage, the former leader of UKIP and the Reform Party, declared the replacement of Braverman, who he identified as a “Leaver and ECHR [European Convention/Court of Human Rights]-sceptic,” with Shapps, a “Remainer and Globalist,” was tantamount to a “coup,” with the Conservatives now “dead” as a party.
The #HuntReshuffle is on. Suella Braverman looks to be out (Leaver and ECHR-sceptic).
According to reports, she will be replaced by Grant Shapps (Remainer and Globalist).
This is a coup, the Conservative party is dead.
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) October 19, 2022
Both Braverman and Hunt had been in the running to replace Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister this summer. During the race, Nadine Dorries, a firm supporter of Johnson, had slammed Hunt for allegedly backing an “authoritarian, Chinese, zero-covid policy” during the pandemic.
As Valiant News reported, Dorries recalled that during her role as a minister within the Health Department, she was contacted by Hunt, who told her to convince the then Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, to implement that severe zero-covid policy.
“My wife’s family have experience of this,” Hunt allegedly told Dorries. “When someone tests positive, you take them from their home, and you take them to an isolation centre, and you leave them there in isolation centres – that’s the only way you can beat covid.”
Hunt’s wife is Lucia Guo, who presents a show on Sky TV run by the Chinese state-owned China International TV Corporation, in partnership with the Chinese government’s London tourism office. The programme has been accused by human rights campaigners as “whitewashing” atrocities committed by the regime.
