Sunak seeks guidance on home secretary’s ethics
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held talks with his ethics adviser on Monday to determine whether home secretary Suella Braverman contravened the ministerial code in her handling of a speeding ticket in 2022, a scandal that threatens to worsen fast-growing splits in the governing Conservative Party.
The Sunday Times reports that Braverman asked public servants to help arrange a private driving awareness course to stop her speeding violation becoming public knowledge. this may contravene ministerial rules against using public employees for personal affairs.
The issue comes at a sensitive time for Sunak, who arrived back from Group of Seven (G7) talks on Russia’s war in Ukraine to a domestic flap about one of his most controversial appointments. Braverman, who pushes for reducing immigration, is also at the centre of Tory fingerpointing over data due this week, expected to show migrant numbers are soaring.
Her allies say the timing of reports on her speeding ticket is more than a coincidence, and fits a narrative building on the Tory right wing that the public service
and even Sunak himself — is working against its agenda.
At a media briefing before leaving Japan, Sunak dodged a question on whether he still backs Braverman. But on returning to London he spoke to ethics adviser Laurie Magnus about Braverman, the prime minister’s spokesperson told reporters. He said Braverman still has Sunak’s confidence.
Pressure, including from Tories, is building on Sunak to take action. “There are definitely questions to be answered,” former Conservative Party chair Jake Berry told the BBC on Sunday. Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer called for a full inquiry, saying “that’s what many people will be expecting”.
The Braverman furore was expected to dominate at parliament on Monday, when Braverman was due to take questions in the House of Commons with migration likely to feature prominently, but opposition politicians want a statement in connection with her behaviour over the speeding ticket.
It is all very awkward for Sunak, due to speak in Parliament about the G7 summit after Braverman. It is barely a month since his No 2, Dominic Raab, resigned as deputy prime minister over an inquiry that found he engaged in aggressive and intimidating behaviour towards public servants.
The premier, who promised to restore government integrity and professionalism when he took power in October after months of turmoil under Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, has already lost three cabinet members to scandal.
His appointment of Braverman drew criticism at the time, coming just days after she was fired by Truss for breaching security rules. When the Truss administration imploded, it was Braverman’s backing for Sunak that effectively ended Johnson’s bid for an unlikely comeback, and Sunak reappointed Braverman as home secretary in one of his first acts in office.
It means any mistake or controversy surrounding Braverman will always allow Sunak’s critics to label it a self-inflicted wound. And when the home secretary appeared to lash out at her government’s performance on immigration in a speech last week, there were immediately questions about who has the upper hand, and whether Braverman is now seeking the Conservative leadership.
Braverman appeared to be getting ahead of the news, with the government bracing for the release of migration figures on Thursday that are widely expected to confirm a record surge of arrivals in 2022.
During his wrap-up news conference at the G7 on Sunday, Sunak appeared frustrated when Braverman was the first topic that came up.
Sunak asked a reporter: “Do you have any questions about the summit?”