On Monday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fired Interior Minister Suella Braverman for dividing his party and endangering his authority with her criticism of the police’s conduct of a pro-Palestinian march.
“Rishi Sunak has asked Suella Braverman to leave government and she has accepted,” a government source said.
Sunak seemed to have announced a long-planned reshuffle to bring in allies and remove ministers he believed were not performing in response to pressure from opposition parliamentarians and members of the ruling Conservative Party to remove Braverman.
In an unapproved piece published last week, the notorious Braverman disobeyed Sunak by alleging that police used “double standards” to protesters, treating right-wing protestors harshly while being lenient towards pro-Palestinian activists.
Inflamed tensions between a pro-Palestinian march and a far-right counter-protest on Saturday resulted in around 150 arrests, according to the opposition Labour Party.
James Cleverly, the foreign minister, took her position. On Monday, he was spotted approaching Sunak’s Downing Street office.
The tabloid Telegraph revealed that former prime minister David Cameron was to be appointed foreign minister, an unexpected appointment.
Some Conservatives on the right of the party will be incensed by Braverman’s departure because they think her criticism of the police was warranted. Sunak can try to win them over by arguing that Braverman’s words, not her arguments, were incorrect.
This action is being taken just days before the government and interior ministry will learn whether they have been successful in one of their main policy goals, which is to be allowed to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda after winning a legal struggle at the Supreme Court.
It is anticipated that Sunak would make a greater number of changes to his cabinet, including the appointment of supporters and the removal of those ministers whose performance in their portfolios has not met his expectations, according to his Downing Street office.
