Immediately after he assumed office as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak reappointed Suella Braverman as the Secretary of State for the Home Department, drawing outcry from many quarters.
Braverman, who held the same position in the Liz Truss government, quit on October 19 over "a technical breach of government rules." It was her resignation that finally pushed Truss to quit.
Braverman, a rightwinger, had openly endorsed Sunak in his race for 10 Downing Street, prompting many to view her reappointment as a payback. Ironically, Rishi's controversial decision comes after he pledged to lead the Conservative party with "integrity, professionalism and accountability."
Braverman's appointment assumes significance in India as her comments on Indians being the largest visa overstayers had pushed the UK-India Free Trade Agreement to the verge of collapse.
Her statements that she had "concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India because I don’t think that’s what people voted for with Brexit" too had not gone down well with the Indian government, which reportedly decided to sit on the pact despite the Diwali deadline.
Many opposition MPs have also rallied against Braverman's reappointment with allegations that the Prime Minister did not consult a ministerial adviser in this regard.
Yvette Cooper, Labour MP and shadow home secretary, told The Guardian that Sunak was already putting party before country only hours into his premiership. "He has just appointed Suella Braverman to be home secretary again a week after she resigned for breaches of the ministerial code, security lapses, sending sensitive government information through unauthorised personal channels, and following weeks of nonstop public disagreements with other cabinet ministers," she said.
She added that the national security and public safety of the country were too important for this kind of chaos.
Besides Braverman, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace will also retain their positions.
The Prime Minister has made a crucial appointment of Dominic Raab as the Deputy Prime Minister. Jeremy Hunt held the same position in the Truss Cabinet after Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked for his disastrous mini-budget.
Sunak has also asked four ministers to step down. They include Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis, Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith and Development minister Vicky Ford.
