- Thursday, January 16, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Rishi Sunak, who took over as the prime minister of Britain on Tuesday (25) to succeed Liz Truss, came under strong criticism after bringing back Suella Braverman as the home secretary in his new cabinet.
Hours after pledging to lead the Conservative Party with “integrity, professionalism and accountability”, Sunak reappointed Braverman, who is also an Indian-origin individual like the former.
It was only last week that Braverman quit the government of Truss over a “technical” breach of government rules. However, she made the headlines for wrong reasons during her short stint in the previous government as she expressed reservations over migrants from India.
The re-appointment of Braverman drew sharp criticism from leaders across the UK’s political spectrum.
Caroline Lucas, a parliamentarian, tweeted, “Rishi Sunak at lunchtime: ‘This government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level’. Rishi Sunak in afternoon: ‘re-appoints Suella Braverman as Home Sec, after breaching official ministerial rules & “dreaming” of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda’.”
Rishi Sunak at lunchtime: "This government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level"
Rishi Sunak in afternoon: *re-appoints Suella Braverman as Home Sec, after breaching official ministerial rules & "dreaming" of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda*
— Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) October 25, 2022
Steve Peers, a professor at the University of Essex, said on Twitter, “Truly terrible appointment – one of the cruellest and most dishonest people in public life.”
Truly terrible appointment – one of the cruellest and most dishonest people in public life https://t.co/UE0nWBR1Mi
— Steve Peers (@StevePeers) October 25, 2022
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper accused the new prime minister of putting his party ahead of the country.
“He has just appointed Suella Braverman to be home secretary again a week after she resigned for breaches of the ministerial code, security lapses, sending sensitive government information through unauthorised personal channels, and following weeks of nonstop public disagreements with other cabinet ministers,” she was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
Labour MP Chris Bryant tweeted, “Appointing Suella Braverman as Home secretary just days after she was sacked for a security breach doesn’t smack of integrity, competence, professionalism or sensible politics. It’s just cynical manoeuvring. This PM’s no better than the last two.”
Appointing Suella Braverman as Home secretary just days after she was sacked for a security breach doesn’t smack of integrity, competence, professionalism or sensible politics. It’s just cynical manoeuvring. This PM’s no better than the last two.
— Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) October 25, 2022
Earlier in October, Braverman faced a backlash after remarking that Indians are the “largest group of people who overstay” their visas in the UK.
“Look at migration in this country – the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants,” she said in an interview with The Spectator.
PM Sunak also kept Truss’s finance minister Jeremy Hunt in the same post. His also made Dominic Raab the deputy prime minister and justice secretary.
