The reinstated Suella Braverman has admitted to sending government documents to her personal email address six times during her first stint as home secretary. This is on top of the security breach that led to her resignation.
Since her reinstatement by Rishi Sunak, Suella Braverman’s reappointment has been embroiled in a row with opposition parties and even some Tory MPs.
But Downing Street says Mr Sunak has “full confidence” in her – but she is likely to face questions from opposition MPs in the Commons at some point.
Asked whether Prime Minister Rishi Sunak believed MI5 had confidence in Ms Braverman, his official spokesperson said: “Yes, the home secretary continues to have strong relationships with all the operational bodies that report into the Home Office and are focused very much on keeping the country safe.”
Asked if Mr Sunak was concerned security analysts might be reluctant to share information with the Home Office, the official said: “No, and any suggestion of that would be entirely false.”
Separately, opposition parties and some Tory MPs have also questioned Ms Braverman’s reappointment as home secretary after she admitted sending an official document to someone not authorised to receive it.
She stepped down from her cabinet position on 19th October 2022, and after admitting two breaches of the ministerial code by sending confidential material via a private email account. She admitted committing a “technical infringement” of the rules.
“I have made a mistake; I accept responsibility; I resign,” she wrote in her resignation letter.
However, just six days later Mr Sunak reappointed Ms Braverman as home secretary.
It came two days after Ms Braverman had thrown her support behind him in the contest to replace Ms Truss, in what was widely seen as a significant endorsement by an influential figure on the right of the Conservative Party.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the new prime minister of giving Ms Braverman a job in exchange for her support.
Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have called for inquiries into Ms Braverman’s appointment.
Jake Berry – who served as party chairman under Ms Truss but was fired by Mr Sunak – has also questioned Ms Braverman’s return to the cabinet, saying there had been “multiple breaches” of the rules.
He told Talk TV that Ms Braverman had sent a document “from a private email address to another MP, she then sought to copy in that individual’s wife but accidentally sent it to a staffer in Parliament”.
“To me, that seems to be a really serious breach – the cabinet secretary had his say at the time. I doubt he has changed his mind in the last six days,” he added.
New party chairman Nadhim Zahawi defended Ms Braverman’s reappointment, saying he believed in “redemption”.
“The prime minister looked at this case and he decided to give her a second chance,” he added.
