Braverman sacked, David Cameron has returned and Sunak's Rwanda policy deemed illegal: Conservatives in chaos
By Ruby Hegarty
A dramatic reshuffle of Sunak’s cabinet saw the re-introduction of former Prime Minister David Cameron as foreign secretary, while Suella Braverman was replaced by James Cleverly as home secretary following her criticism of Metropolitan Police during recent pro-Palestine protests.
The huge shift in the Conservative party’s cabinet commenced on Monday 13th October, when PM Rishi Sunak dismissed Braverman after she evoked significant controversy in an opinion piece she had written for The Times. The article, published on Thursday 9th October, denoted that the police were “playing favourites” when it came to the pro-Palestine protests in London. Braverman further characterised the protesters as “hate marchers”, describing them as “mobs” and “Islamists”, evidently failing to acknowledge the peaceful nature of many of these protests.
As a consequence, Braverman raised eyebrows across the political landscape.
Braverman has a notable track record of publicly embracing a strong right-wing stance; having called homelessness a “lifestyle choice”, mass migration a “hurricane” and asylum seekers arriving to England an “invasion”.
The final nail-in-the-coffin for Braverman’s image in Ireland was exhibited in her opinion piece, where she wrote that pro-Palestine demonstrations were “an assertion of primacy by certain groups- particularly Islamists- of the kind we are more used to seeing in Northern Ireland”.
Later Braverman clarified that she was referring to “dissident republicans”, and the DUP’s Sammy Wilson has since expressed that Northern Ireland has been “thrown under the bus” by PM Sunak and his cabinet.
Rishi Sunak’s sacking of former home secretary Suella Braverman was indicative of larger pressure building within the political atmosphere, and Braverman’s explosive letter to Sunak after her dramatic dismissal noted the “repeated” failures of the current Conservative leadership.
Braverman’s take on the ‘failures’ of the party correspond with her popularity on the hard-right, and Sunak lacks popularity on the hard-right and in the crucial view of swing-voters.
As a result, the change in cabinet is rumoured to be a commitment to resolve the current drop in polls for the Conservatives. The Labour Party consolidated a lead of just under 19.5% over the Conservative party in opinion polls conducted at the start of November, reported Politics.co.uk.
The appointment of ex-Prime Minister, David Cameron, to the position of Foreign Secretary, comes seven years after his resignation in 2016 following the Brexit referendum. Now ‘Lord’ Cameron, the previous PM replaces James Cleverly in a move by Rishi Sunak he says, on X, “will be bold in making the right decisions for our great country”. Controversy has continued to erupt in light of Sunak’s re-shuffling with many highlighting Cameron’s failures in handling the Brexit referendum. For Northern Ireland, the issues surrounding the NI Protocol still remain at the forefront of political turmoil. Braverman, in the letter published following her sack, accused Sunak of “betrayal”, indicating that Sunak had knowingly continued to fail in the implementation of a successful post-Brexit deal in Northern Ireland.
Further changes made to the cabinet include the appointment of Victoria Atkins to Health Secretary; Steve Barclay as Environment Secretary following Therese Coffey’s sack; Laura Trott as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Lee Rowley as Housing Minister after Rachel Maclean’s departure. Paymaster General Jeremy Quin and Science Minister George Freeman resigned during this reshuffle.
Sunak’s ‘Rwanda policy’ also made major headlines this week, as the legislation was blocked and deemed “unlawful” by the Supreme Court. The Conservatives’ scheme was designed to send asylum seekers to the East African country, in order to mitigate the dangers of travelling across the Channel by boat. In a statement from the Conservative party, the government declared the plan would stop “illegal, dangerous or unnecessary methods” of arriving in the UK. According to the BBC, more than 45,700 asylum seekers in 2022 travelled to the UK using small boats to cross the Channel. “Stopping the boats” by successful implementation of the Rwanda policy was PM Sunak’s “key priority” in January, but the unanimous ruling from the Supreme Court that it is unlawful has put a halt to the plans.
Regardless, Sunak told MPs that he was negotiating a new treaty with Rwanda, stating that he was serious about “ending the merry-go-round” of legal challenges. Supreme Court judges have maintained that the planned legislation outwardly breaches the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), in which the UK is signatory to. This doctrine explicitly prohibits torture and inhumane treatment, where an influx of refugees to Rwanda would most likely result in humanitarian concerns given Rwanda’s extremely poor track record on human rights.
While rumours of discussion on an exit from the ECHR circulate, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick certainly does not put these rumours to rest. Jenrick, when asked if leaving the ECHR was a viable possibility, stated that: “I’ve been clear that we have to do whatever it takes.” Talking to The Telegraph, he also added: “We have to ensure the Rwanda policy succeeds before the next general election.”
As the next general election approaches, the 13-year-long Conservative leadership faces an unsteady ground and the road ahead looks rocky. Major changes to the Cabinet, including David Cameron’s return, complete with the loss of the hard-right’s martyr Suella Braverman and a public attempt at a significant breach of humanitarian law are just some of the factors indicating the current disarray of Sunak’s government.
What a week for politics.
Edited by Alice Wesley
Ruby Hegarty is the News Editor at The Scoop. She is a third year History & Politics student.