Kate Plummer
Oct 26, 2022
Indy
Suella Braverman is back as home secretary following a relaxed week off after breaking the ministerial code.
The home secretary signed out from Liz Truss’s administration last week after admitting to sending an official document deemed “sensitive” from her personal email.
Downing Street had shared immigration proposals with the home secretary, which she then attempted to email to John Hayes. But she also accidentally sent it to a staff member of another Tory MP who shares Hayes’s surname. It happens to the best of us and the worst of us clearly but Braverman did the Right Thing and bowed out.
“I have made a mistake; I accept responsibility; I resign,” she said, adding she had “serious concerns” about Truss’s commitment to the 2019 manifesto.
But then Truss passed the baton to Rishi Sunak in the relay race that is Tory leadership and Sunak decided he wanted Braverman back.
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Rishi is already being fishy so people were not pleased with the news.
\u201cLet Suella Braverman be a warning to everybody: break the ministerial code and you will face the full might of a week off\u201d— James Felton (@James Felton) 1666722781
\u201cAbsolutely appalling that Suella Braverman is back as Home Secretary. Not only does it signal a return to the cruel policies of the Boris Johnson/Priti Patel government, Braverman was only forced out as Home Secretary last week! An insult to the British electorate.\u201d— Matthew Stadlen (@Matthew Stadlen) 1666713926
\u201cI'm old enough to remember Suella Braverman's principled resignation for having breached the ministerial code less than a week ago.\u201d— Ash Sarkar (@Ash Sarkar) 1666713747
\u201cAppointing Suella Braverman as Home secretary just days after she was sacked for a security breach doesn\u2019t smack of integrity, competence, professionalism or sensible politics. It\u2019s just cynical manoeuvring. This PM\u2019s no better than the last two.\u201d— Chris Bryant (@Chris Bryant) 1666714227
\u201cSuella Braverman did not mistakenly leak a meaningless document. She endlessly consulted a maverick. She deliberately emailed a policy doc not yet agreed to her pvt email. Then she sent it to John Hayes and someone she thought was his wife. Then lied to PM about when it was sent\u201d— Tim Shipman (@Tim Shipman) 1666713980
\u201cI mean it\u2019s sort of mad that Suella Braverman can stand down days ago because she broke the Ministerial Code and hey presto, she\u2019s back\u201d— Emma Kennedy\ud83d\udc99 (@Emma Kennedy\ud83d\udc99) 1666710702
\u201cAt noon Rishi Sunak promised \u201cintegrity, professionalism & accountability\u201d\n\nAt 5pm he made Suella Braverman Home Secretary, 1wk after she resigned for Ministerial Code breach/security lapse\n\nHe put party before country. Security is too important for this irresponsible Tory chaos\u201d— Yvette Cooper (@Yvette Cooper) 1666716340
\u201cThe Braverman reappointment is an atrocity\u201d— Simon Schama (@Simon Schama) 1666713862
Alistair Graham, the former chair of the committee on standards in public life, said: “Normally the prime minister would have consulted a ministerial adviser for advice. A breach of the ministerial code is seen as a serious matter and would make any minister an inappropriate appointment to one of the four most senior positions in government.”
But she was defended by foreign secretary James Cleverly on Sky News this morning, when he was asked how Braverman's appointment matches Sunak's pledge to lead with “integrity, professionalism and accountability".
"Suella made a mistake," Cleverly said before saying she had apologised and had good plans for her time in office.
"This was no minor mistake," presenter Niall Paterson said.
\u201cNiall Paterson doesn\u2019t let James Cleverly off the hook when he tries to gloss over Suella Braverman being sacked for a security breach\u201d— Toby Earle \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Toby Earle \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1666765488
Meanwhile it comes after Braverman launched an attack on those among us who dare to eat tofu. With her resignation, vegetarians thought they were safe. Now they are not so sure.
As if we needed another reason for a general election.
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