Downing Street challenges Suella Braverman to publish dossier of conditions agreed with Rishi Sunak
Downing Street challenged Suella Braverman to publish documents which she claims proves Rishi Sunak signed up to a series of her demands before she agreed to become his home secretary.
Allies of Ms Braverman insist she has a set of documents that prove the Prime Minister had agreed to a host of policies as part of a deal for her to join his Cabinet and bolster his position as leader of the party.
But No 10 has disputed these claims, insisting that there was no formal agreement drawn up beyond an initial discussion between the pair when policies and ideas were set out.
Mr Sunak’s press secretary said “something may have come in” to Mr Sunak’s intray but insisted that this did not mean it was the same terms of a deal that Ms Braverman’s team has referred to.
“I think it formed a discussion on policy,” the spokeswoman said. “But obviously, that was a period before they were in Government. What I’m saying is when they were in Government, there was then a formal exchange of letters with further detail on what the Prime Minister wanted to focus on.”
The spokeswoman added: “I mean, if [Ms Braverman] would like to put the documents she talked about in the public domain that’s obviously her choice.”
Insiders told i Mr Sunak believes he can “ride out” the storm triggered by Ms Braverman’s letter following the reshuffle, and that the signs of discontent among her supporters do not amount to a significant threat to his premiership.
A senior government source said of the row: “It’s worth it to have a strong Cabinet that’s trusted to get on with the work we need to do.”
Speculation is mounting that the former home secretary will publish the terms that she claims Mr Sunak agreed to in return for her joining his Cabinet in October last year.
In her excoriating letter to the Prime Minister on Tuesday, Ms Braverman referenced a set of “conditions” that she demanded in return for her joining his Cabinet.
Among them were demands to stop the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act from blocking the Rwanda policy, as well as calls for an overall cut to immigration, statutory protections for biological sex in schools and delivery of the Northern Ireland protocol.
But despite apparently agreeing to the terms, Ms Braverman accused Mr Sunak of “manifestly and repeatedly failing to deliver on every single one of those policies”.
According to reports, allies of Ms Braverman responded to Downing Street’s challenge to publish the agreement by insisting Mr Sunak agreed to the terms in front of witnesses and urged the Prime Minister to “reveal it to the public himself”.
But supporters of Mr Sunak dismissed Ms Braverman’s backlash as an attempt to “play to a hardcore of MPs” and rejected suggestions she has enough backing to mount a challenge against the Prime Minister.
