Suella Braverman’s long list of controversies

Suella Braverman has whipped up a fresh storm of controversy with comments on rough sleepers, pro-Palestinian protesters and police. 

It marks the latest chapter in Ms Braverman’s rapid rise to power and controversial time in one of the cabinet’s top jobs.

Here Sky News looks at the rows that have overshadowed her time in the role.

Pro-Palestinian protesters ‘hate marchers’

The home secretary has described pro-Palestinian protesters as “hate marchers”.

In an article for The Times newspaper, she went even further, adding: “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.

“Also, disturbingly reminiscent of Ulster are the reports that some of Saturday’s march group organisers have links to terrorist groups, including Hamas.”

In response, one former Tory cabinet minister said: “This is wholly offensive and ignorant of where people in Northern Ireland stand on the issues of Israel and Gaza.”

She also accused police of being biased in favour of left-wing protesters.

She claimed: “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.”

Homeless tents a ‘lifestyle choice’

Ms Braverman stoked controversy with her claims rough sleeping is a “lifestyle choice” and outlined plans to restrict homeless people from using tents.

The home secretary’s crackdown would have reportedly targeted “nuisance” tents, such as those blocking shop doorways, and would have meant charities handing out camping equipment faced being fined.

Pointing to San Francisco and Los Angeles in the US, Ms Braverman said these were examples of where “weak policies have led to an explosion of crime, drug taking, and squalor”.

Her proposal was branded “cruel and ignorant”, with critics accusing her of seeking “to dehumanise people and create a scapegoat in society”.

Here’s exactly what she said.

Speeding row

Ms Braverman was accused of breaking the ministerial code of conduct by asking civil servants to arrange a private speed awareness course after she was caught speeding in 2022.

Rishi Sunak faced pressure to take action and consulted his independent ethics adviser, who advised further investigation was not necessary.

Ms Braverman defended her actions, saying “nothing untoward happened”.

Mr Sunak said that after receiving a letter from Ms Braverman – in which she apologised for causing “distraction” – his decision was “these matters do not amount to a breach of the ministerial code”.

India ‘reservations’

After being knocked out of the race to become Conservative Party leader – and Prime Minister – in the second round of voting, Ms Braverman backed eventual winner Liz Truss – and was rewarded by being appointed home secretary in September 2022.

But within weeks she appeared to defy her own prime minister by revealing she had concerns about government plans to allow more visa flexibility to people coming to the UK from India.

She told The Spectator magazine: “I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country – the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants.”

Her comments reportedly sparked a furious backlash in New Delhi and were said to have almost torpedoed trade deal talks.

Read more:
Does Braverman relish being controversial?
How much longer can Sunak put up with Braverman?

‘Tofu-eating wokerati’

Ms Braverman also caused a stir as she defended the government’s controversial Public Order Bill, which was aimed at cracking down on disruptive protests.

Describing demonstrators, she claimed those taking part included “the Labour Party, it’s the Lib Dems, it’s the coalition of chaos, it’s the Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati, dare I say, the anti-growth coalition that we have to thank for the disruption that we are seeing on our roads today”.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper branded Ms Braverman’s words “astonishing”, adding: “The home secretary actually talked about a coalition of chaos, we can see it in front of us as we speak.”

Email ‘mistake’

But Ms Braverman’s first stint as home secretary then ended after 43 days when she resigned after breaching government security rules.

It emerged that she had sent an official document from her personal email to a backbench MP – which she admitted had been a “mistake”.

But in her resignation letter she took aim at then prime minister Liz Truss, accusing her of breaking “key pledges that were promised to our voters”.

She also expressed “serious concerns about this government’s commitment to honouring manifesto commitments”, particularly on immigration.

Migrants ‘invasion’ row

Ms Braverman returned as home secretary less than a week after being forced out – after being reappointed to the role by the new prime minister, Rishi Sunak.

But within days she sparked another row after claiming that illegal immigration was “out of control” – while also describing migrants coming to the UK as an “invasion”.

It came amid another controversy as Labour accused her of being silent on Channel crossings and overcrowding at the Manston processing centre in Kent, where outbreaks of MRSA and diphtheria had been been reported.

The site was designed to hold 1,000 people for up to 48 hours, but at the time there were around 4,000 migrants there – more than any UK prison population.

Even her colleagues held back from endorsing her comments, with immigration minister Robert Jenrick telling Sky News: “In a job like mine, you have to choose your words very carefully. And I would never demonise people coming to this country in pursuit of a better life.”

‘Cowardly attack’ on civil servants

Ms Braverman was then accused of carrying out a “cowardly attack” on civil servants in March 2023 after an email was sent to Tory supporters blaming government workers for blocking plans aimed at stopping small boats crossing the Channel.

The letter claimed an “activist blob of left-wing lawyers, civil servants and the Labour Party” had prevented the government from tackling the issue.

The email, which prompted fury from the FDA civil servants union, had the home secretary’s name at the end, implying she had written and signed it.

However, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case later said someone else was responsible and insisted that Ms Braverman “did not see, sign off or sanction the email” before it was sent – while Conservative chairman Greg Hands apologised “for the error”.

Rwanda rows

Ms Braverman has also attracted controversy over her enthusiastic backing of the government’s policy of deportation flights to Rwanda. The policy was launched in April 2022 under her predecessor Priti Patel, but is yet to get off the ground.

The first flight was set to take off in June 2022 with four people on board, but was halted after a number of legal challenges and an intervention by the European Court of Human Rights, which said the plan carried “a real risk of irreversible harm”.

Ms Braverman, who visited the country in March for a tour of potential migrant housing, previously described front page news confirming the deportation of people to Rwanda as her “dream”, and said it was her “obsession” to see a plane take off under the scheme.

But both her rhetoric and the policy have been heavily criticised, including by refugee charities. They have described the plans as “cruel and nasty” and argue they will do nothing to deter people from travelling across the Channel.

‘Far-right narratives’

Ms Braverman was further criticised earlier this year for claiming that grooming gang members are “almost all British Pakistani”.

She also told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: “What we’ve seen is a practice whereby vulnerable white English girls, sometimes in care, sometimes who are in challenging circumstances, being pursued and raped and drugged and harmed by gangs of British Pakistani men who’ve worked in child abuse rings or networks.”

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Dozens of organisations, medical bodies and business leaders urged her to withdraw the comments, accusing her of “amplifying far-right narratives”.

The remarks were also criticised as factually inaccurate given a Home Office-commissioned study in 2020 found that group-based child sexual exploitation offenders are most commonly white males under 30.

‘Leadership pitch’

Ms Braverman was also accused back in May of undermining Rishi Sunak with a speech at the National Conservatism conference which some saw as a pitch by her to become new Tory leader.

Former cabinet minister Robert Buckland suggested to Sky News at the time that she should “concentrate on the job” of being the home secretary.