‘Your plan is not working’: Braverman launches scathing attack on Sunak

Suella Braverman has launched a scathing attack on Rishi Sunak, accusing him of failing to deliver on key promises and taking credit for him entering Downing Street.

The former home secretary posted an letter on X, formerly Twitter, after she was sacked from the cabinet on Monday, lambasting the Prime Minister for his “weak” leadership.

In the 1,300 poison pen missive, Braverman claimed she agreed to support Sunak to become party leader in October 2022 “because of firm assurances” on key policy areas and said her backing was a “pivotal factor”.

Sunak, she said, had pledged to cut legal migration; prevent the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) from obstructing Rwanda flights; deliver the Northern Ireland Protocol and Retained EU Law Bills in their existing forms; and protect single sex spaces in schools.

But she said over the past year he had “manifestly and repeatedly failed to deliver on every single one of these key policies”.

“Either your distinctive style of government means you are incapable of doing so or, as I must surely conclude now, you never had any intention of keeping your promises,” she said.

Braverman also claimed Sunak “rejected” measures to block the ECHR from preventing the Rwanda flights, which she called a “betrayal of your promise to the nation” to stop the boats.

She accused him of “wishful” and “magical thinking” over the legal challenges to the policy.

“Believing that you can will your way through this without upsetting polite opinion has meant you have failed to prepare any sort of credible ‘Plan B’,” she wrote.

“I can only surmise that this is because you have no appetite for doing what is necessary.”

Braverman also claimed Sunak had been “uncertain”, “weak” and “lacking in leadership” over the issue of what she called “hate marches” following the crisis in Israel-Gaza.

The Prime Minister, she asserted, had “failed to rise to the challenge” over the “increasingly vicious antisemitism and extremism” on Britain’s streets since Hamas’ attack on October 7.

“You sought to put off tough decisions in order to minimise political risk to yourself,” she said. “In doing so, you have increased the very real risk these marches present to everyone else.”

“Someone needs to be honest: your plan is not working, we have endured record election defeats, your resets have failed and we are running out of time. You need to change course urgently.”

A No 10 spokeswoman said: “The Prime Minister was proud to appoint a strong, united team yesterday focused on delivering for the British people.

“The Prime Minister believes in actions not words. He is proud that this government has brought forward the toughest legislation to tackle illegal migration this country has seen and has subsequently reduced the number of boat crossings by a third this year. And whatever the outcome of the Supreme Court tomorrow, he will continue that work.

“The PM thanks the former Home Secretary for her service.”