The official statement from the British government states that Braverman left her job as Britain’s secretary of state for the Home Department as part of a wider cabinet shuffle ahead of the general elections next year. However, the dismissal came after an opinion piece Braverman wrote in the Times of London resulted in backlash from the Conservative party and the opposition Labour party.
The new Ministerial appointments also includes ex British Prime Minister David Cameron as secretary of state for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Developmental Affairs.
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What did Braverman write? And the reason for her firing
In her opinion piece titled, “Police must be even-handed with protests”, Braverman accused the police of having “double standards” when it comes to dealing with protests. She criticized a pro-Palestinian protest to take place on November 11, in London saying that although right-wing and nationalist protestors are met with aggression the same is not seen when dealing with pro-Palestinian demonstrators desplaying identical behavior, even though the law is clearly being broken.
She also wrote in her article that the organizers of the protests “have links to terrorist groups including Hamas”. She also called the protestors “hate marchers”. On the day of the demonstration fights broke out between the far-right counter-protestors and the police with the objective of keeping them away from the pro-Palestinian marchers leading to more than 140 arrests. The opposition Labour party alleged the skirmishes were a result of Braverman’s remarks. The Conservative party also criticized her and supported her dismissal from her post, while expressing dismay at Sunak’s delay in firing her.
PM Rishi Sunak said Braverman didn’t run the article by his office, as is a requirement under the ministerial code, initially he backed her message. However, later under pressure from the two parties he has fired one of his most visible ministers.
Braverman’s replacement
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has designated James Cleverly as the secretary of state for the Home Department. The appointment of James Cleverly, as a replacement for Suella Braverman, is seen as a move to appease the senior police officers as well as the rightwing MPs after the stance Braverman took.
Cleverly said in his first comments as the new home secretary that his two main priorities will be to stop illegal small boat crossing over the English channel and to keep everyone in the UK safe. When asked about the remarks by Braverman before her dismissal and whether Cleverly wanted to distance himself from those statements, he remarked, “Well, I intend to do this job in the way I feel best protects the British people and our interests.”
Ex-PM David Cameron appointed the foreign secretary
David Cameron, 57, served as the British Prime Minister for 6 years from 2010 to 2016 and resigned due to the outcome of the Brexit vote has once again returned in the political arena to serve as the secretary of state for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Developmental Affairs. ”
Cameron noted that his experience as a Conservative leader for 11 years and prime minister for 6 will provide him the experience to assist the prime minister to effectively deal with vital challenges being faced by Britain currently.
Cameron’s return has surprised many as despite his high profile he was involved in a scandal in 2021 after lobbying the UK government for Greensill Capital, a finance group that later collapsed leading to a less than great image for Cameron.
