Indian-origin UK home secretary Suella Braverman was sacked today as prime minister Rishi Sunak initiated a cabinet reshuffle. 

A leading figure on the Conservative right, Braverman’s future became uncertain following an unauthorised article criticising the policing of pro-Palestinian protests in the UK, reported local media.

Sunak is now carrying out a reshuffle - which involves changing some of his top team.

Internal conflict in Conservative party

On Nov 11, Sunak held off sacking Braverman for saying police were biased for allowing a pro-Palestinian march on Armistice Day. 

Before what is expected to be one of Britain’s biggest ever days of mass protest on Nov 11, allies of Braverman claimed more than 50 Tory MPs were fighting to help her keep her job, reported local media.

Some of the MPs – from hard-right Conservative groups labelled “the five families” – are also blaming the chief whip, Simon Hart, for orchestrating a plot to get rid of her.

On the other side, moderate MPs are furious with Braverman for stoking tensions before the pro-Palestinian protest, and are pressing No 10 and the chief whip to sack her, saying failure to act looks like weakness.

Sunak was considering Braverman’s future as home secretary after she defied Downing Street by submitting the controversial piece to a newspaper in the UK without making changes it requested.

Recently, the UK government planned to add India and Georgia to a list of safe states to speed up the process of returning people who have travelled from either country illegally.

On this, Braverman said, “We must stop people making dangerous and illegal journeys to the UK from fundamentally safe countries.”

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