Suella Braverman – latest: Tory civil war over home secretary police row as Sunak urged to sack her
Leaked WhatsApp messages reveal divided Tory party as MPs clash over home secretary’s protest comments
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Rishi Sunak is facing a Tory civil war as he is urged to sack Suella Braverman over her controversial comments ahead of the pro-Palestine march today.
The home secretary has been accused of stirring “hatred and division” after she claimed the police are biased.
But her job is on the line after Downing Street made clear that it had not approved an extraordinary article in which she accused officers of playing favourites over a pro-Palestine march on Armistice Day.
No 10 says it is investigating after it demanded that changes be made to the piece but the request was ignored. As the home secretary’s claims sparked a furious outcry, one Conservative minister broke ranks to accuse her of fuelling “hatred and division”.
Now, leaked WhatsApp messages between Tory MPs reveal discord in the party as Braverman backers and supporters exchanged heated messages on her comments on the police.
Meanwhile, George Osborne, the former Tory chancellor, said the prime minister risked looking weak if he decided not to axe Ms Braverman.
Jeremy Hunt: ‘I would not have used those words’
Jeremy Hunt distanced himself from controversial comments made by Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Archie Mitchell reports.
With pressure growing for Rishi Sunak to fire his home secretary, the chancellor told reporters: "As many other Cabinet ministers have said, the words that she used are not words that I myself would have used.
"But I have a productive relationship with her as a colleague and I have always given her the money that she needs to fund police, bring down crime and to fund the immigration and asylum system."
Watch a clip of Hunt’s interview here:
Braverman’s position ‘untenable’, senior Tory says
Suella Braverman’s position as home secretary has become untenable, a senior Tory has said.
Bob Neill, chair of the justice committee, said Ms Braverman’s police comments had “gone over the line”.
“Yes I think it is,” he told LBC’s Andrew Marr when asked if the home secretary’s position was untenable.
“I think she’s gone over the line and I was wondering about that earlier today [Thursday].
“I hoped she might not have done but its part of a history of ill-judgement and loose words.”
Top Tory: ‘We cannot carry on as we are… completely unacceptable’
A senior Tory has said Rishi Sunak should have a “very serious conversation” with Suella Braverman because “we cannot carry on as we are”, Archie Mitchell reports.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, treasurer of the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs, said Ms Braverman’s behaviour is “completely unacceptable”.
Sir Geoffrey told the BBC the PM should seek an undertaking from Ms Braverman that she will handle similar situations in private in future, or consider replacing her as home secretary.
He said: “On a number of levels the article was unwise. I think these matters of differences of opinion between the Home Secretary and the Metropolitan Police commissioner, are best carried out in private and not elevated to the public domain like this.
“The article was unprecedented.”
128 people arrested in London on suspicion of hate crimes since war broke
The Metropolitan Police has said a total of 188 people have been arrested on suspicion of hate crimes since the Hamas-Israel broke out.
Of these 98 were suspected anti-semitic offences, 21 are alleged Islamophobic offences and a further 12 are believed to be faith hate crimes.
In addition, 57 were public order offences, including many which are racially aggravated.
Commander Paul Trevers, who is responsible for criminal justice outcomes, said: “This is a challenging time for communities in London.
"We continue to see a very concerning rise in both anti-Semitic and Islamophobic hate crime. This is absolutely unacceptable.
"No-one should be subjected to hate because of their faith or race, and we are taking action against those who are offending.
“In some cases, our officers have taken accounts of extremely shocking and hateful abuse as well as acts of violence.
"We are working with the Crown Prosecution Service to build strong cases against those who offend.
“We continue to work extremely closely with our faith communities and we know the impact on them is not diminishing."
Israel must protect Palestinians in the West Bank - UN rights chief
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday that Israel must take immediate measures to protect Palestinians in the West Bank as they find themselves targeted by more violence since the conflict with Hamas erupted last month.
"I also appeal, as a matter of urgency, for Israeli authorities to take immediate measures, to take steps to ensure the protection of Palestinians in the West Bank, who are being on a daily basis subjected to violence from Israeli forces and settlers, ill treatment, arrests, evictions, intimidation and humiliation," Volker Turk told reporters in the Jordanian capital of Amman.
Al-Quds hospital about to run out of fuel - PRCS
The Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza has less than 24 hours of fuel remaining, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said.
The aid organisation said the hospital was forced to scale back all its services on Thursday to conserve supplies.
The area around the hospital has come under sustained, heavy bombardment in recent days.
“Urgent international aid is needed due to isolation caused by intense bombardment and closed roads for the fourth day,” PRCS said in a statement.
Drone launched from Syria hits school in Israel - IDF
A drone launched from Syria hit a school in the southern city of Eilat, Israel’s military has said.
The Israeli Defense Force said it had “struck” back at the organisation that carried out the attack on Thursday.
“The IDF holds the Syrian regime fully responsible for every terror activity emanating from its territory,” it said in a statement.
“We will respond to every aggression against Israel.”
The IDF did not name the organisation and it was not immediately clear if there were any injuries or fatalities.
Expansion of war ‘inevitable’, Iran foreign minister says
Iran warned the scale of civilian suffering caused by Israel’s war on Hamas would inevitably lead to an expansion of the conflict, as officials in Gaza reported Israeli air strikes on or near several hospitals in the Palestinian enclave.
The comments from Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian could ramp up concerns over whether Washington’s diplomatic efforts and deployment of US naval forces to the eastern Mediterranean will be able to keep the conflict from further destabilising the Middle East.
"Due to the expansion of the intensity of the war against Gaza’s civilian residents, expansion of the scope of the war has become inevitable," Amir-Abdollahian told his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Thursday night.
Iran’s state-run Press TV reported the comments, made during a telephone conversation, on Friday.
Education minister dodges questions on Braverman’s future
The education minister repeatedly dodged questions on whether Rishi Sunak still has full confidence in Suella Braverman following claims she made about the Met Police.
Robert Halfon said it was up to the prime minister to decide who served as his home secretary.
“What I’m saying is what the government’s focus is on, is ensuring that the remembrance services go ahead peacefully,” he told Sky News when asked about the future of his colleague.
Reports say Braverman could be sacked or moved in an upcoming reshuffle after claiming that the Met was biased in how it polices protests and comparing pro-Palestine demonstrations to marches in Northern Ireland.
Archie Mitchell has the full report:
Tory minister repeatedly refuses to say PM has confidence in Suella Braverman
Suella Braverman took out a warning to the police not to take a ‘soft touch’ at the Armistice Day protest, along with claims there was “ample evidence” that senior police officers were biassed
Sack Suella Braverman now or look weak, George Osborne tells Rishi Sunak over police bias row
Rishi Sunak has been warned by George Osborne that he risks looking weak unless he sacks Suella Braverman, after an extraordinary row erupted over the home secretary’s incendiary claim that the police are biased.
Ms Braverman’s job is on the line after Downing Street made clear that it had not approved an extraordinary article in which she accused officers of playing favourites over a pro-Palestine march on Armistice Day. No 10 says it is investigating after it demanded that changes be made to the piece but the request was ignored.
Kate Devlin and Adam Forrest report:
Sack Suella Braverman now or look weak, George Osborne tells PM
Prime minister faces calls to sack home secretary for accusing Met of ‘playing favourites’ over pro-Palestine protests
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