SUELLA Braverman has tonight accused Rishi Sunak of a “betrayal of your promise to the nation” in a blistering parting shot.
The axed Home Secretary mauled the PM in an extraordinary letter that blasted his “weak” leadership on migration and protests.
In an searing attack she said: “Someone needs to be honest: your plan is not working, we have endured record election defeats, your resets have failed and we are running out of time. You need to change course urgently.”
Ms Braverman unleashed after being fired yesterday following her unauthorised attack on the Met’s response to pro-Palestine marches.
But in her bombshell letter she:
- CLAIMED Mr Sunak had reneged on a backroom deal the pair struck last year during his PM bid
- BLASTED the PM for showing weakness over the pro-Palestine protest marches in London
- ACCUSED her former boss of failing to get tough with meddling Euro judges
- SLAMMED the PM for “magical thinking” over Rwanda with no “credible” Plan B
- HAMMERED him for putting off “tough decisions in order to minimise political risk to yourself”
- REMINDED Mr Sunak he was “rejected” by Tory members and had “no personal mandate to be PM”
Ms Braverman‘s three-page onslaught has angered Downing Street, who are planning to hit back tonight.
In her tirade, the scorned Tory MP claimed the PM had failed to honour a deal brokered when she backed his leadership bid last year.
She said he had agreed to reduce overall legal migration, go hell for leather on stopping the boats, rip up Brexit red tape and protect single sex spaces.
But in a withering assessment she raged: “You have manifestly and repeatedly failed to deliver on every single one of these key policies.”
Attacking his reluctance to overrule Strasbourg meddling on migration, she said: “Your rejection of this path was not merely a betrayal of our agreement, but a betrayal of your promise to the nation that you would do ‘whatever it takes’ to stop the boats.”
Ahead of tomorrow’s crunch Rwanda ruling, Ms Braverman accused Mr Sunak of failing to prepare for “any sort of credible Plan B”.
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Downing Street today insisted ministers had been drawing up contingency plans in the event of defeat in the Supreme Court.
But the ex Home Secretary said: “If we lose in the Supreme Court, an outcome that I have consistently argued we must be prepared for, you will have wasted a year and an Act of Parliament, only to arrive back at square one.
“Worse than this, your magical thinking – believing that you can will your way through this without upsetting polite opinion – has meant you have failed to prepare any sort of credible ‘Plan B’.”
Four savage shots fired in Suella Braverman’s letter
The most savage shots fired in snubbed Suella’s letter:
- I can only surmise that this is because you have no appetite for doing what is necessary, and therefore, no real intention of fulfilling your pledge to the British people. You have manifestly and repeatedly failed to deliver on every single one of these key policies.
- Either your distinctive style of government means you are incapable of doing so.
- I have become hoarse urging you to consider legislation to ban the hate marches and help stem the rising tide of racism, intimidation and terrorist glorification threatening community cohesion.
- Your response has been uncertain, weak and lacking in the qualities of leadership that this country needs.
Tory MP Sir Simon Clarke said tonight: “I hope the Government wins tomorrow’s Supreme Court case.
“However, win or lose, how the Government then proceeds will be a litmus test of whether it is serious about fixing the wholly unacceptable scale of illegal immigration, or simply talking about it.”
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Ms Braverman also lashed out at Mr Sunak over his response to the Armistice Day protests which set in train her sacking.
The PM blamed on “differences of style” and suggested the outspoken Cabinet Minister had breached collective responsibility with her unauthorised attack on the Met last week.
But in her letter she attacked his “failure to rise to the challenge posed by the increasingly vicious antisemitism and extremism displayed on our streets since Hamas’ terrorist atrocities” on October 7.
“I have become hoarse urging you to consider legislation to ban the hate marches and help stem the rising tide of racism, intimidation and terrorist glorification threatening community cohesion.”
Ms Braverman’s parting shot came as right-wing Tory supporters put the PM on notice after his reshuffle was seen as tacking to the centre ground.
But Co-Chairs of the New Conservatives Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger said Mr Sunak’s fresh Cabinet risks alienating “the coalition of voters who brought us into power”.
They accused the PM of looking as though he chose to “abandon the voters who switched to us last time” in the “hope of shoring up support elsewhere”.
The MPs said: “We are concerned that yesterday’s reshuffle indicates a major change in the policy direction of the Government.
“The Conservative Party now looks like it is deliberately walking away from the coalition of voters who brought us into power with a large majority in 2019.”
Critics blamed her for stoking tensions ahead of last Saturday’s protests which saw thuggery from the far-right and pro-Palestine sides.
But her supporters accused Mr Sunak of “caving to the left”.
James Cleverly was shunted from Foreign Secretary to become her replacement and inherits her massive in-tray including Wednesday’s do-or-die Rwanda judgement.
He insisted he was “absolutely committed to stopping the boats” but did not seem thrilled as he left Downing Street to take on his new job.
Mr Sunak brutally sacked Ms Braverman over the phone yesterday morning as she became the first casualty of the sweeping reshuffle.
The PM’s press secretary pointed to “issues around language” and added: “It is clearly very important that we have a united and strong team at the top of Government.”
But Mr Sunak was hammered by Tories on the right of the party who backed the axed Home Secretary’s no-nonsense approach.
MP Andrea Jenkyns said: “I support Suella Braverman. Sacked for speaking the truth. Bad call by Rishi caving in to the left!”
Ex-Cabinet Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg piled in: “Firing her is a mistake – she understood what the country wanted and needed in terms of migration, and I think it raises questions about the seriousness of the Government in tackling illegal migration.”
But staring down the right-wingers, Mr Sunak’s press secretary said: “We govern for the country, we do not govern for one particular way of thinking.”
It is the second time Ms Braverman was fired as Home Secretary, having previously been forced out under Liz Truss for a security breach.
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She also caused a stir recently for insisting living in tents was a “lifestyle choice” for many homeless people.
She said yesterday: “It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve as home secretary. I will have more to say in due course.
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Jack Elsom
