Sunak urged by senior Tories to fire Braverman before Rwanda judgement or risk her becoming ‘unsackable’

Rishi Sunak should remove Suella Braverman as Home Secretary before the Supreme Court ruling on the government’s Rwanda policy or risk her becoming unsackable, senior Tories believe.

The Prime Minister is under intense pressure from his own MPs to take action against the minister after she openly defied him over Saturday’s mass pro-Palestinian protest.

Mr Sunak had been expected to wait until after this Wednesday’s court judgement on the Rwanda asylum scheme, which some insiders believe the government could lose, before taking action in a long-awaited Cabinet reshuffle.

But senior Tory MPs say that if the government wins in the Supreme Court, Mrs Braverman becomes unsackable, and even if it loses, the PM would be firing a minister over a policy that he himself has backed in full.

The row over Mrs Braverman’s conduct, including her Times article last week which has been blamed on stoking tensions among far-right activists and pro-Palestinian protesters, is also set to erupt at this Wednesday’s meeting of the backbench Tory 1922 committee, i has been told.

A Tory former cabinet minister told i: “I believe Rishi has no choice but to sack her. This is an issue of authority.

“If she carries on then she will know that she can say what she likes without consequence and it also makes it easier for others in the Cabinet to speak their mind too.”

The Prime Minister should fire his Home Secretary “immediately”, on Monday or Tuesday this week, the ex-cabinet minister said, to avoid it being tied to Rwanda, adding: “It’s quite straightforward. She believes she can ignore the Prime Minister and that is an unacceptable position for him.”

The Home Secretary redoubled her rhetoric over Saturday’s pro-Palestinian protest, threatening “further action” against marchers.

She urged the police to take action against the “sick, inflammatory and clearly criminal” elements at the march in London, attended by more than 300,000 people, including anti-semitic chants and placards.

Downing Street is also considering toughening measures against the protests, i understands, after a review of Saturday’s protests and counter-protests by far-right groups. These could include urging the police to use their full powers against protesters, or potentially a review of public order legislation.

The Home Secretary wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Our brave police officers deserve the thanks of every decent citizen for their professionalism in the face of violence and aggression from protesters and counter-protesters in London yesterday”.

She said it was an “outrage” that multiple officers were “injured doing their duty” amid the protests after the Met confirmed that nine of its officers had been injured.

Referring to incidents at the pro-Palestinian march, Mrs Braverman added: “The sick, inflammatory and, in some cases, clearly criminal chants, placards and paraphernalia openly on display at the march mark a new low.

“Antisemitism and other forms of racism together with the valorising of terrorism on such a scale is deeply troubling.

“This can’t go on. Week by week, the streets of London are being polluted by hate, violence, and antisemitism. Members of the public are being mobbed and intimidated. Jewish people in particular feel threatened. Further action is necessary.”

Asked what “further action” by the government could mean, a No10 source said: “We should reflect on this weekend and make sure all powers were used as effectively as possible.

“There’s openness in government to go further if needed.”

Earlier, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps refused to state whether he believes Mrs Braverman will still be Home Secretary in a week’s time, becoming the latest Cabinet minister who has declined to give her his backing.

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.”

Mr Sunak is expected to receive a letter from an unknown number of Tory MPs urging the Prime Minister to keep the Home Secretary in post.

The letter has been organised by the Conservative MP John Hayes, a longstanding ally of Mrs Braverman, who could hand it in to Downing Street as early as Monday.

A senior Tory MP and supporter of the Home Secretary said: “The Prime Minister would like to get rid of her, because she’s a threat.”

Asked whether Mrs Braverman is deliberately trying to get sacked, the MP said: “It’s something that she seriously does believe in and she is frustrated by the fact that he won’t go as far as she would like him to. Beyond that, I think that she probably still has leadership ambitions.

“I think that she takes the view that if we lose the next election there will obviously be a very quick leadership contest. I think she may well be establishing her credentials.

“But I don’t think it’s necessarily a question of deliberately wanting to wind the PM up.”