War is declared: Suella Braverman accuses Sunak of betraying the nation
Holding nothing back, the former Home Secretary, who was sacked on Monday, said Mr Sunak was “rejected” by party members.
She said it was only the backing she gave in October 2022 that secured him the Premiership. But she claimed Mr Sunak had “manifestly and repeatedly failed” to help her deliver her key policies.
She also claimed he never had any intention of taking the action needed to stop the small boats. In an extraordinary letter, Mrs Braverman said the PM had put off tough decisions “in order to minimise political risk to yourself”.
She added: “In October of last year you were given an opportunity to lead our country. It is a privilege to serve and one we should not take for granted.
“Service requires bravery and thinking of the common good. It is not about occupying the office as an end in itself. 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.”
READ MORE No.10 issues withering response to Suella Braverman’s damning attack letter
Suella Braverman sacked as Home Secretary
The Prime Minister’s decision to sack Mrs Braverman and shift the party to the centre has provoked fury on the right.
Different factions are working together to show their anger and demand the PM sticks to the agenda that won over voters who backed the Conservatives in 2019.
No10 was warned it is facing a “grid of s***” over the coming days – a reference to plans by the right of the party to try to dominate the news agenda.
Downing Street insisted Mr Sunak believes in “actions not words” after Mrs Braverman issued her letter. A No10 spokeswoman said: “The Prime Minister was proud to appoint a strong, united team yesterday, focused on delivering for the British people.
“The Prime Minister believes in actions not words. He is proud this Government has brought forward the toughest legislation to tackle illegal migration this country has seen and has subsequently reduced the number of boat crossings by a third this year.”
Mr Sunak welcomed his new top team that includes former PM David Cameron at a meeting yesterday morning.
The Prime Minister said his new-look Cabinet would make the “big, bold decisions that will drive change”. He added: “Looking around this table, I know that we have an energetic and enthusiastic team that is going to deliver for the country. So, let’s get to work.”
Cabinet ministers looked ahead to today’s Supreme Court decision on the Rwanda plan.
New Home Secretary James Cleverly “outlined some of the possible scenarios” of the judgment, said No10.
But Mrs Braverman used her letter to accuse Mr Sunak of wasting time by choosing a “comfort blanket” of “wishful thinking” instead of making hard decisions over the deportation scheme. She wrote: “At every stage of litigation I cautioned you and your team against assuming we would win.
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“I repeatedly urged you to take legislative measures that would better secure us against the possibility of defeat. You ignored these arguments. You opted instead for wishful thinking as a comfort blanket to avoid having to make hard choices. This irresponsibility has wasted time and left the country in an impossible position.”
She warned it is unlikely Mr Sunak will meet his pledge to “stop the boats” regardless of the Supreme Court ruling.
She added: “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’.” Mrs Braverman pointed out the PM had “no personal mandate” to lead after losing last year’s Conservative leadership contest to Liz Truss.
She said she agreed to serve in his Cabinet because of his “firm assurances on key policy priorities”. They included a commitment to reduce net migration and efforts to tackle international blocks on deporting those who arrive across the Channel via small boats.
Mrs Braverman told Mr Sunak that it was “generally agreed that my support was a pivotal factor in winning the leadership contest and thus enabling you to become Prime Minister”.
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She said the supposed deal amounted to “a document with clear terms to which you agreed in October 2022 during your second leadership campaign”.
The MP for Fareham went on to describe how she “trusted” him as Prime Minister to deliver on the alleged pledges.
But she said he “repeatedly failed to deliver on every single one of these key policies”. Mrs Braverman suggested that Mr Sunak was being duplicitous when he struck the apparent agreement for her support.
The new backbencher wrote: “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. Or, as I must surely conclude now, you never had any intention of keeping your promises.”
Mrs Braverman’s explosive intervention came hours after the founders of the New Conservative group of Red Wall Tories hit out at the Prime Minister for sacrificing northern seats to save those in the south.
Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger issued a joint statement saying the hope that the party had swung behind those new supporters brought in under Boris Johnson had “dwindled” following this week’s reshuffle. But the newly-installed Tory chairman Richard Holden stressed the need for unity across the party.
He said: “I’m somebody from the right of the Conservative Party as well. I want to see us being that broad church. There will always be people who are disappointed they’ve not been promoted or recognised in some way.
“But we need to concentrate as a party – and as a Government – on the issues that really affect the people of the country. That’s what I’m out there campaigning for every single day.”
Meanwhile, Nadine Dorries accused Mr Sunak of being “quick to anger”, saying it was the wrong move to sack Mrs Braverman.
The former Tory MP and Culture Secretary added: “I don’t think it was right to sack Suella. He’s quick to anger and that mask often slips. It’s just an irritability that you see.”
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