LONDON: British PM Rishi Sunak was under growing pressure on Friday to sack one of his most senior ministers, Suella Braverman, after she published an inflammatory article attacking the police’s handling of a planned pro-Palestinian march.
Braverman, the Home Secretary responsible for policing and national security, has a long history of making controversial statements that have alienated her more moderate colleagues. In an opinion piece in The Times published ahead of a pro-Palestinian march on Saturday, Braverman accused the police of exhibiting a “double standard” in the way they treat protests, notably pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
Braverman, seen as a possible candidate to be the next leader of the governing Conservative Party, has repeatedly criticised the tens of thousands of protesters who have gathered in London since the Hamas attack on Israel last month. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, treasurer of the Conservative’s influential 1922 Committee that governs its backbench lawmakers, said Braverman’s comments were “unwise” and “unprecedented”, and that Sunak must consider moving her to a different role.