Rishi Sunak Confronts Crucial Decision Amidst Toughest Week as UK PM
Although there is no longer an immediate prospect of turmoil in London’s streets, Rishi Sunak may only have a short reprieve as he approaches one of his most important weeks as prime minister of Britain.
The biggest issue facing Rishi Sunak is whether to fire Home Secretary Suella Braverman for inciting far-right groups to conflict with police during large-scale protests in the city on Saturday. Braverman had been criticising the way the police had handled pro-Palestinian demonstrators. A Downing Street source on Sunday refused to comment on whether Braverman would still be employed in a week, while Defence Secretary Grant Shapps’ only comment in response to the same query was that “a week is a long time in politics.”
Pressure has mounted on Rishi Sunak to penalise Braverman for his criticism of the Metropolitan Police in a newspaper article, which he wrote hours after he seemed to settle arguments with the force’s commissioner concerning protests that conflicted with the yearly ceremonies honouring Britain’s war dead. Despite Braverman’s great popularity among the extreme wing of the Conservative Party, two Cabinet members on Sunday called the challenge to the prime minister’s authority unacceptable.
One Tory legislator claimed that if Sunak keeps Braverman, he will support Labour leader Keir Starmer’s attempts to portray him as weak in front of the anticipated general election that takes place next year. Another stated that it was a lose-lose situation and that removing her may incite a revolution by the right, further dividing the Conservatives.
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The largest pro-Palestine march in London since the Israel-Hamas crisis began more than a month ago drew over 300,000 participants on Saturday. Leaders of the protests attributed the growing public support to Braverman, who had labelled attendees as “hate marchers,” citing reports of “jihad” slogans at previous events.
The Met has also said that the political drama makes it harder for them to keep the public order. Assistant Police Commissioner Matt Twist said late Saturday that the crisis in Gaza, the Armistice Day holiday, and the heated discussion surrounding protest and policing “all combined to increase community tensions.”
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In response to inquiries concerning Braverman’s accountability, Shapps, the government’s representative on Sunday political talk shows, told Sky News that “these marches were already going to happen.” These counter-demonstrations were certain to occur.” Regarding her future, he replied that the prime minister was in charge of the composition of the cabinet.
Approximately 145 people were arrested by police on Saturday during the protests, many of them were counter-protesters who the police stopped from joining the mainly peaceful pro-Palestine march. Seven males have been charged with a range of crimes, including assault on an emergency worker, criminal damage, and possession of an offensive weapon, the Met announced on Sunday.
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On the social media site X on Sunday, Braverman posted, “This can’t go on,” praising the police and labelling the injuries sustained by a few cops as “an outrage.” She referred to “violence and aggression” on the part of demonstrators supporting Palestine, but she concentrated her condemnation on them.
Braverman posted on the website that was once known as Twitter, saying, “Antisemitism and other forms of racism together with the valorising of terrorism on such a scale is deeply troubling.” In response to potential anti-Semitic hate crimes and support for Hamas, which the UK has blacklisted as a terrorist organisation, police have shared photos of suspects on social media.
In addition to overseeing immigration policy, Braverman is closely associated with another impending milestone for Sunak: a decision by the UK Supreme Court on the validity of the government’s proposal to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda is scheduled for this Wednesday. The prime minister’s choice regarding Braverman is complicated by the timing, as delaying until after the verdict is rendered runs the danger of giving the impression that the two incidents were connected.
The Downing Street official stated that the government is not sure it would prevail in the Rwanda case.
A Cabinet shuffle that some Conservative officials thought may occur as soon as Monday, when Sunak’s public schedule is clean save for an evening address on foreign policy, was anticipated. Bloomberg last week reported that Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, had meetings to discuss a possible change.
A number of Tory MPs have quietly encouraged Sunak to fire Braverman, mirroring the opposition Labour Party’s open calls for her dismissal.
Labour’s shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, told the BBC on Sunday that the woman “inflamed tension, she also attacked the police, undermined respect for the police at a really important time – that was highly irresponsible.” “Suella Braverman is the only person who could perform that job as a home secretary, and Rishi Sunak is being incredibly weak by letting her do it. It is really harmful.”
