UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Wednesday tendered her resignation, citing “technical infringement of the rules” she committed while sending official documents to a parliamentary colleague.
“Pretending we haven’t made mistakes, carrying on as if everyone can’t see that we have made them, and hoping that things will magically come right is not serious politics. I have made a mistake, I accept responsibility; I resign,” Braverman said in a letter posted on her Twitter handle. In the letter addressed to the UK Prime Minister Liz Truss, she also expressed concerns about the direction of the government and said key pledges made to voters have been broken.
“It is obvious to everyone that we are going through a tumultuous time. I have concerns about the direction of this government. Not only have we broken key pledges that were promised to our voters, but I have had serious concerns about this Government’s commitment to honouring manifesto commitments, such as reducing overall migration numbers and stopping illegal migration, particularly the dangerous small boats crossings,” she added.
Braverman said she committed “technical infringement of the rules” by sending official documents from her personal email to a parliamentary colleague.
“I sent an official document from my personal email to a trusted parliamentary colleague as part of policy engagement, and with the aim of garnering support for government policy on migration. This constitutes a technical infringement of the rules,” she said.
“As you know, the document was a draft Written Ministerial Statement about migration, due for publication imminently. Much of it had already been briefed to MPs. Nevertheless, it is right for me to go. As soon as I realised my mistake, I rapidly reported this on official channels, and informed the Cabinet Secretary. As Home Secretary I hold myself to the highest standards and my resignation is the right thing to do,” she added.
This resignation comes less than a week after UK Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng was fired after serving for even less than six weeks. Kwarteng was sacked after the new government’s September 23 plan of massive tax cuts resulted in the plunging of British government bonds.
Recently, Braverman in an interview talked about “reservations” over the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India and linked it to illegal immigration.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said India and UK are interested to conclude the FTA at the earliest as intensive discussions are underway keeping in view that it proves to be a win-win situation for both sides.
“There is interest in both sides to conclude the FTA at the earliest. Diwali has been set as a goal. Intensive discussions are underway towards this and they are continuing,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said.
Braverman, who is an Indian-origin barrister, was appointed as the UK’s Home Secretary this year, replacing fellow colleague Priti Patel who is also of Indian descent.
Liz Truss, who took over as UK Prime Minister last month, had appointed Suella Braverman as her Home Secretary. Suella Braverman was previously Attorney General between 2020-2022. (ANI),
