Will the new prime minister bring the British back the peace they long for? The re-entry of the right-wing hardliner Braverman into the Ministry of the Interior already makes liberals despair. Sunak also has to account for the appeals of former Johnson retainers who were deemed a total failure.
Suella Braverman has a dream. If it is up to the British Home Secretary, who is back in office a week after being forced to resign, a plane full of asylum seekers should take off for Rwanda before Christmas. “It’s my dream, it’s my obsession,” said the minister a few weeks ago, smiling at the cameras. For anyone who expected the new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to adopt a more moderate policy than that of his populist predecessors, Braverman’s personality is a major setback.
With a cabinet made up of supporters and representatives from other wings of the party, which has almost all been appointed a day after Sunak took office, the 42-year-old wants to secure the broadest possible support in the deeply divided Conservative Party. Allies of his predecessor Liz Truss as well as his predecessor Boris Johnson sit at the cabinet table. While Treasury Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Business Secretary Grant Shapps are supposed to ensure stability in the financial markets, Kemi Badenoch, known for her love of culture wars, is seen as Minister for Women and Equality, and Braverman as a concession to the right-wing hardliners in the party.
Braverman resigned from Truss’ cabinet the day before she resigned after she forwarded an official document using her private email address, contrary to ministerial rules. After taking office, Sunak pledged to lead the government with integrity and professionalism. The deputy leader of the opposition Labor party, Angela Rayner, criticized: “The new prime minister puts his party leadership before governing in the national interest, even if he hires a home secretary who only had to resign last week for breaching security rules.” At the request of Labour, Braverman should still comment on her temporary resignation in Parliament, and the party – like the Liberal Democrats – is also demanding an independent investigation into the appointment.
Sunak defended himself: Braverman had recognized their mistakes, had resigned and was therefore now part of a new “government of unity and experience,” he said in the lower house. While including all camps in the cabinet is seen as a smart move by Sunak to keep rebellious backbenchers at bay, there are doubts about the competence of some candidates. The tabloid “Daily Star” headlined Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab: “Man without a brain returns”. Raab was once the subject of much controversy as foreign minister for his role in Afghanistan’s disengagement, and later launched controversial legislation as justice minister. The appointment of Gavin Williamson, who was considered a total failure as Secretary of Education under Johnson, also raises eyebrows.
Renowned British human rights lawyer Jessica Simor tweeted that a brief “moment of hope” was once again in ruins. “You are destroying everything that is good in this country and making everything that is bad worse,” wrote the lawyer, referring to the Tories, who have ruled Britain for the past 12 years. In the “Sun”, an observer also criticized that the prime minister had only given around a quarter of the posts to women.
Brussels is hoping that Sunak will move into Downing Street as a more reliable partner than its predecessors Truss and Johnson. “In these difficult times for our continent, we count on a strong relationship with the United Kingdom,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. However, with the composition of his government, Sunak is making it clear that although he will put an end to the economic chaos, he will nevertheless stick to the right-wing conservative course recently taken by the Tories. Many see a breach of international law in the Rwanda pact for the deportation of asylum seekers from various countries, which he also supports and which is currently under judicial review. The fact that the convinced Brexiteer will take a less confrontational course in the dispute with Brussels over Brexit rules for Northern Ireland is also not taken for granted.
