Current:Home > ScamsA day after Britain’s prime minister fired her, Suella Braverman accuses him of being a weak leader-LoTradeCoin
A day after Britain’s prime minister fired her, Suella Braverman accuses him of being a weak leader
View Date:2025-01-11 07:35:53
LONDON (AP) — Former British Home Secretary Suella Braverman lashed out at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a day after he fired her, calling his approach “uncertain, weak” and a betrayal of his promises.
In a resignation letter she published on Tuesday, Braverman said Sunak had “manifestly and repeatedly failed to deliver” on key pledges and alleged that he “never had any intention” of keeping them.
Sunak sacked Braverman on Monday after she made a series of intemperate statements that deviated from the government line. In recent weeks she called homelessness a “lifestyle choice” and accused police of being too lenient with pro-Palestinian protests, which she called “hate marches.”
On Saturday, far-right protesters scuffled with police and tried to confront a pro-Palestinian march by hundreds of thousands through the streets of London. Critics accused Braverman’s language of helping to inflame tensions.
In her letter, she said Sunak had rejected her calls to ban pro-Palestinian demonstrations calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.
“Britain is at a turning point in our history and faces a threat of radicalization and extremism in a way not seen for 20 years. I regret to say that your response has been uncertain, weak and lacking in the qualities of leadership that this country needs,” she wrote.
As home secretary, Braverman championed the government’s stalled plan to send asylum-seekers who arrive in Britain in boats on a one-way trip to Rwanda. A U.K. Supreme Court ruling on whether the policy is legal is due on Wednesday.
Braverman has called for the U.K. to leave the European Convention on Human Rights if the Rwanda plan is blocked, a move Sunak has not supported.
She accused Sunak of having no “Plan B” if the government loses the Supreme Court case. She said his reluctance to remove Britain from international rights agreements was “a betrayal of your promise to the nation that you would do ‘whatever it takes’ to stop the boats.”
Sunak’s office said the prime minister would “continue to tackle illegal migration ... whatever the outcome of the Supreme Court case.”
“The prime minister was proud to appoint a strong, united team yesterday focused on delivering for the British people,” his Downing Street office said in a statement.
Her fusillade of scorn is part of Braverman’s bid to cement her place as leader of the Conservative Party’s authoritarian right wing. She’s seen as likely to run for party leader in a contest that could come if the Conservatives lose power in an election due next year.
Opinion polls put the party as much as 20 points behind the Labour opposition.
Although Braverman is a rallying figure for some Conservatives, she has the support of a minority of the party’s lawmakers. More centrist Tories see her as reviving the authoritarian and intolerant “nasty party” image that the Conservatives have long worked to shed, starting with the government of Prime Minister David Cameron between 2010 and 2016.
Cameron, widely regarded as politically moderate and socially liberal, returned to government Monday in the Cabinet shuffle that ousted Braverman. Sunak appointed him foreign secretary, making Cameron the first ex-prime minister for half a century to hold another Cabinet post.
veryGood! (33)
Related
- Pitchfork Music Festival to find new home after ending 19-year run in Chicago
- Mar-a-Lago worker charged in Trump’s classified documents case to make first court appearance
- Botched Patient Born With Pig Nose Details Heartbreaking Story of Lifelong Bullying
- Pro-Trump PAC spent over $40 million on legal bills for Trump and aides in 2023
- Tesla issues 6th Cybertruck recall this year, with over 2,400 vehicles affected
- Investigators use an unlikely clue to bring young mom's killer to justice
- New film honors angel who saved over 200 lives during Russian occupation of Bucha
- Super Bowl Champion Bruce Collie's 30-Year-Old Daughter Killed in Wisconsin Plane Crash
- Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia Explains Why She’s Not Removing Tattoo of Ex Zach Bryan’s Lyrics
- Pressure? Megan Rapinoe, USWNT embrace it: 'Hell yeah. This is exactly where we want to be.'
Ranking
- ‘Emilia Pérez’ wouldn’t work without Karla Sofía Gascón. Now, she could make trans history
- 'Hero dog' facing euthanasia finds a home after community rallies to get her adopted
- Sam Asghari makes big 'Special Ops: Lioness' splash, jumping shirtless into swimming pool
- 17-year-old American cyclist killed while training for mountain bike world championships
- Dick Van Dyke says he 'fortunately' won't be around for Trump's second presidency
- North Carolina police search for driver who appears to intentionally hit 6 migrant workers
- Cycling Star Magnus White Dead at 17 After Being Struck By Car During Bike Ride
- Cycling Star Magnus White Dead at 17 After Being Struck By Car During Bike Ride
Recommendation
-
'Yellowstone's powerful opening: What happened to Kevin Costner's John Dutton?
-
Full transcript of Face the Nation, July 30, 2023
-
The FBI should face new limits on its use of US foreign spy data, a key intelligence board says
-
NASA reports unplanned 'communications pause' with historic Voyager 2 probe carrying 'golden record'
-
Black, red or dead: How Omaha became a hub for black squirrel scholarship
-
Yellow is shutting down and headed for bankruptcy, the Teamsters Union says. Here’s what to know
-
Churchill Downs to improve track maintenance, veterinary resources for fall meet after horse deaths
-
The stars of Broadway’s ‘Back to the Future’ musical happily speed into the past every night