Adding to British Prime Minister Liz Truss’s woes, Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Wednesday tendered her resignation, criticising the incumbent government for breaking “key pledges” such as cracking down on illegal migration, particularly the unlawful boat crossings across the English Channel.
In a sharply worded resignation letter, Braverman raised concern about “the direction of [the] government” during these “tumultuous times.” She noted that even in her short stint as Home Secretary, she had recognised that there is still “much to do” on immigration policy. Braverman noted that the government’s failure to enact change in this regard is disingenuous to citizens who voted in “unambiguous numbers” for a manifesto that is centred around “reducing overall migration numbers and stopping illegal migration.”
To this end, she stressed that the United Kingdom (UK) needs a “deserving policy” that prioritises the “public good” and ignores “the interests of selfish protestors.”
In fact, in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Braverman laid the blame at the feet of the opposition for leading a “coalition of chaos”, calling them a “Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati, dare I say, the anti-growth coalition.”
Grant Shapps, a veteran Conservative Party minister and former party chair, was appointed Home Secretary soon after Braverman’s resignation. He previously served as Transport Secretary under former PM Boris Johnson’s leadership and is a more centrist alternative to the anti-immigration Braverman.
With only 43 days in office, Braverman is the shortest-serving home secretary since Arthur Wellesely in 1834.
Explaining the reason behind her decision to step down, she said she had “realised [her] mistake” in sending an official document on the migration policy from her personal email to a “trusted parliamentary colleague.” She added that while the draft statement was soon to be published and had already been presented before the Members of Parliament, she recognised that the move was a “technical infringement.”
My letter to the Prime Minister. pic.twitter.com/TaWO1PMOF2
— Suella Braverman MP (@SuellaBraverman) October 19, 2022
Analysts, however, claim that Truss merely used the ministerial code as a pretext to get rid of a minister whom it already wanted out due to widening differences within the Cabinet. Various Tory MPs have said that the offence that forced Braverman’s dismissal is one most MPs have committed at some point, describing it as “very minor” and not a “resigning matter.”
In fact, Braverman wrote in her resignation letter that the government’s business is centred around “accepting responsibility for their mistakes.” This has been interpreted as a thinly-veiled criticism of Truss, who has lost support both among citizens and within the party her controversial and now-withdrawn “mini-budget,” which introduced tax cuts for the country’s wealthiest.
To this end, Braverman asserted, “Pretending we haven’t made mistakes, carrying on as if everyone can’t see that we have made them, and hoping that things will magically come right is not serious politics.”
Crucially, while Braverman applauded her own ministerial team and the “heroic” security forces, including the police and border forces, she did not offer her support to Truss, raising concern that she could join a growing chorus of Tory MPs demanding a trust vote.
In a shortly-worded response, Truss accepted Braverman’s resignation by highlighting the importance of upholding the Ministerial Code and respecting Cabinet Confidentiality. She nonetheless applauded Braverman’s role as an Attorney General and Cabinet member in framing the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.
Braverman’s resignation adds to Liz Truss’s woes as support for her leadership diminishes both within and outside the Conservative Party. In fact, just five days ago, she sacked her Chancellor of Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng.
In addition, reports have emerged that chief whip Wendy Morton and deputy whip Craig Whittaker are also stepping down. However, Downing Street has clarified that the pair “remain in post.”
Extraordinary stuff happening here during the vote on fracking which is apparently “not a confidence vote”. I’ve just witnessed one Tory member in tears being manhandled into the lobby to vote against our motion to continue the ban on fracking @BBCNewsnight @PaulBrandITV
— Anna McMorrin MP 🏴🏳️🌈 (@AnnaMcMorrin) October 19, 2022
The House of Commons was thrown into chaos yesterday as lawmakers discussed the hydraulic fracking vote. Although the parliament ultimately rejected the Labour Party proposal to ban fracking, Labour MP Chris Bryant alleged that several Tories were “physically manhandled” by cabinet members to vote against the proposal. David Linden from the Scottish National Party, too claimed that Deputy Prime Minister Thérèse Coffey had coerced a “hesitant Tory MP” by “marching him into the government lobby.”
Following the fracking vote, Tory MP Charles Walker said he expects Truss to resign “very soon because she's not up to her job,” describing her administration as a “shambles.”
The Truss government attracted further ire after announcing that it would not be able to honour its electoral promise of increasing state pensions to adjust for the increase in average earnings and the inflation rate, which has hit a 40-year high of 10.1%.
Against this backdrop, Labour shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper claimed that the government is “falling apart,” noting that both the home secretary and chancellor of the exchequer were appointed and sacked within six weeks.
Utter chaos. The Tory Government is falling apart at the seams.
— Yvette Cooper (@YvetteCooperMP) October 19, 2022
My response to the departure of the Home Secretary. pic.twitter.com/yb60QbH1T1
Similarly, Scottish National Party leader Westminster Ian Blackford stressed that the Conservative Party has “no vision other than a desperate and undying desire to stay in office.”
Despite thinning support, Truss is immune from a no-confidence vote until next September. Right before Braverman decided to step down, she rejected calls for her resignation, saying, “I’m a fighter and not a quitter.”
However, several Members of Parliament are calling for a change in the party rules to allow a no-confidence vote to be held immediately instead of allowing her to hold the position for the one-year grace period, which could effectively give her the shortest-ever stint at 10 Downing Street.
In fact, Braverman’s replacement, Shapps, said this week in a podcast that he does not expect Truss to survive in the post. He likened her challenge to stay in power to “threading the eye of a needle with the lights off.”
Moreover, a poll by YouGov found this week that 55% of Conservative Party members want her to step down immediately, while just 38% want her to remain in power. 55% said they would vote for Rishi Sunak, who lost the recent party leadership election to Truss. Although this appears to be an endorsement of Sunak, 63% in fact said they would prefer Boris Johnson, the man whom Truss originally replaced, while just 23% would favour Sunak if Johnson were an option.