Rishi Sunak has “full confidence” in his home secretary, Suella Braverman, despite her controversial article about pro-Palestinian marches.
Number 10 said it would “update further” after looking into the “details” surrounding the home secretary’s article, but insisted Mr Sunak still had “full confidence” in her.
In her article for the Times, Ms Braverman accused the police of “playing favourites” with how it handles controversial protests by showing a more lenient attitude to left-wing protesters than their right-wing counterparts.
She also ramped up her attacks on those attending pro-Palestinian demonstrations, likening them to those in Northern Ireland – comments that were branded “wholly offensive” and “ignorant” by one former Tory cabinet minister.
Mr Sunak is under pressure to sack Ms Braverman over her remarks, which critics believe were aimed at undermining the operational independence of and public confidence in the police.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer labelled her “divisive” and accused her of “stoking up tension” but claimed the prime minister was “too weak to say anything about it”.
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“What you’ve got at the moment is… a home secretary who is divisive, who is stoking up tension at the very time that we should be trying to reduce tension, and is undermining the police as they go into a very difficult set of operational decisions,” he said.
“She is doing the complete opposite of what I think most people in this country would see as the proper role of the home secretary.”
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Downing Street has now admitted it did not clear Ms Braverman’s article.
It is understood the article was sent to Number 10 which suggested changes that were not then carried out.
“The content was not agreed by Number 10,” the spokesman confirmed to reporters.
He also would also not say whether Mr Sunak agreed with the language used by his home secretary.
“The prime minister continues to believe that the police will operate without fear or favour,” they added.
In the op-ed, the home secretary once again described pro-Palestinian protesters as “hate marchers” and added: “I do not believe that these marches are merely a cry for help for Gaza.
“They are an assertion of primacy by certain groups – particularly Islamists – of the kind we are more used to seeing in Northern Ireland.
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“Also, disturbingly reminiscent of Ulster are the reports that some of Saturday’s march group organisers have links to terrorist groups, including Hamas.”
And in a rebuke to the Metropolitan Police, which is allowing a pro-Palestine march to go ahead on Armistice Day, Ms Braverman wrote: “Unfortunately, there is a perception that senior police officers play favourites when it comes to protesters.
“During COVID why was it that lockdown objectors were given no quarter by public order police yet Black Lives Matters demonstrators were enabled, allowed to break rules and even greeted with officers taking the knee?
“Right-wing and nationalist protesters who engage in aggression are rightly met with a stern response yet pro-Palestinian mobs displaying almost identical behaviour are largely ignored, even when clearly breaking the law?”
Meanwhile, one former Tory cabinet minister told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby that Ms Braverman’s comments were “wholly offensive and ignorant of where people in Northern Ireland stand on the issues of Israel and Gaza”.
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“It would be good to know what she knows about what Northern Ireland people think about the current Israel-Palestine situation before she casts aspersions,” they said.
In response, the Met Police said they would “not be commenting at this time”.
Earlier this week its commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, confirmed that the demonstration on Saturday would go ahead because the “legal threshold” to stop it on security grounds “had not been met”.
Labour was joined by the Liberal Democrats in calling on Mr Sunak to sack Ms Braverman, with party leader Sir Ed Davey accusing Ms Braverman of “putting police officers in harm’s way”.
“The home secretary’s irresponsible words and foul actions have significantly increased the likelihood of unrest this weekend and the risk of violence towards officers,” he said.
