Grant Shapps refuses to say whether Suella Braverman will still be Home Secretary in a week
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has refused to state whether he believes Suella Braverman will still be Home Secretary in a week’s time, becoming the latest Cabinet minister who has declined to back her.
It is widely speculated that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak could sack Ms Braverman from Cabinet in the coming weeks following a string of controversies, including an inflammatory op-ed about a pro-Palestine protest on Saturday thought to have been published without sign-off from Downing Street.
Asked on Sky News on Sunday whether he believed Ms Braverman’s sacking was imminent, Mr Shapps responded: “A week is a long time in politics, and I never make predictions about these things. It is entirely a matter for the Prime Minister.”
But the Defence Secretary said he did agree with the “substance” of many of Ms Braverman’s arguments surrounding the timing of the pro-Palestine march on Armistice Day.
“I think on balance, decorum this weekend would have been the best route through. But it is undeniably the case that we live in a democratic free society, and actually part of what people who’ve lost their lives fought for was the right and ability to protest,” he said.
He declined to directly criticise Ms Braverman, however, amid claims that she had “emboldened” the far right ahead of the protests after more than 100 people were detained on Saturday following clashes with police near the Cenotaph war memorial.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf and Labour’s shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper have all questioned whether Ms Braverman can remain in post after the debacle.
But Mr Shapps said: “As tempting as it is to get drawn into the politics of who’s up or down one weekend or the other between political parties, I’m also Defence Secretary and the nation is coming together today in particular to remember those who’ve given the ultimate sacrifice.”
Numerous Cabinet ministers have already refused to directly back the Home Secretary, with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt claiming on Friday that “the words that she used are not words that I myself would have used”.
Speaking on Tuesday morning, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk also declined to repeat Ms Braverman’s claim that rough sleeping is a “lifestyle choice”.
Asked on Sky News if he would use her language, he said: “No I wouldn’t, I would take a different approach.”
Transport Secretary Mark Harper, Health Secretary Steve Barclay and Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho have all used similar language when they refused to offer Ms Braverman their support.
The Prime Minister’s spokesperson has said that Mr Sunak has “full confidence” in his Home Secretary – who was handed the key role last year in exchange for backing his leadership bid – but he has repeatedly refused to repeat her language on both homelessness or pro-Palestinian rallies.
The spokesperson said previously that her op-ed in The Times, which accused the Met Police of “playing favourites” with pro-Palestine protesters, was “not agreed” by Number 10 and they would be “looking into what happened”.
They added that the op-ed does not “set out a policy position”, and added that the Prime Minister thinks Ms Braverman “respects his authority”.
Speaking on Monday, the Prime Minister refused to repeat her language about homeless people, adding that he does not “want anyone to sleep rough on our streets”.
