LONDON: Britain’s interior minister quit on Wednesday with a thinly-veiled criticism of Prime Minister Liz Truss who is fighting to reassert her authority over restive lawmakers who are openly calling for her to quit.
The departure of Braverman, over a “technical” breach of government rules, means Truss has now lost two of her most senior ministers in less than a week, both replaced by politicians who had not backed her for the leadership.
Grant Shapps, who on Oct. 4 said Truss only had 10 days to save her premiership, will replace Braverman in a bid by the prime minister to bring critics into the fold to try to quell a rebellion which is growing in size.
Truss, in power for just over six weeks, has been fighting for her political survival ever since she launched a “mini-budget” – an economic programme of vast unfunded tax cuts on Sept. 23 that sent shockwaves through financial markets.
Hours after she told lawmakers that she was sorry for the mistakes she had made, but was not going to quit, reports swirled that her interior minister, or home secretary, had gone.
Confirming her departure, Braverman said she had broken rules by sending an official document from her personal email to a parliamentary colleague. But she added she was worried about the government and that just hoping problems would go away was not a viable approach.
“I have made a mistake, I accept responsibility, I resign,” she said in a letter to the prime minister. Media reports suggested Truss and Braverman may have clashed over immigration. Braverman, who said recently that she dreamt of seeing asylum seekers being deported to Rwanda, has advocated a hardline on immigration numbers.
Truss had suggested immigration restrictions could be lifted in some sections of the economy; as her new finance minister Jeremy Hunt works to find ways to boost the economy, easing immigration rules further could be one option.- Agencies
