“I Have Made a Mistake. I Accept Responsibility and I Resign” – UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman

Home Secretary of the United Kingdom Suella Braverman has resigned from her post by citing that she had breached government rules. In her resignation, she also criticized the Liz Truss government. She is the second cabinet minister to quit Prime Minister Liz Truss’s cabinet within a week. Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng was removed from the cabinet on October 14 and was replaced by Jeremy Hunt.

Suella Braverman, who served as Home Secretary for 43 days, became the shortest-serving Home Secretary after Duke of Wellington, whose tenure as Home Secretary lasted only a month in 1834. Braverman will be replaced by former transport minister Grant Shapps.

While citing the reason for her resignation, Braverman said that she had committed “technical infringement of rules” because she sent an official document from her email to a parliamentary colleague (MP). She wrote, “As you know, the document was a draft Written Ministerial Statement about migration due for public imminently. Much of it had already been briefed to MPs. Nevertheless, it is right for me to go. As soon as I realized my mistake, I rapidly reported this on official channels and informed the Cabinet Secretary. As Home Secretary, I hold myself to the highest standards, and my resignation is the right thing to do.”

In the resignation letter, which was sent to PM Liz Truss, Braverman also criticized the government and said that she was concerned about the direction in which the government was going. Braverman added, “It is obvious to everyone that we are going through a tumultuous time. I have concerns about the direction of this government. Not only have we broken key pledges that were promised to our voters, but I have had serious concerns about this Government’s commitment to honoring manifesto commitments, such as reducing overall migration numbers and stopping illegal migration.”

Accepting the resignation of her cabinet colleague, PM Liz Truss wrote to Braverman, “I accept your resignation and respect the decision you have made. It is important that the ministerial code is upheld and that cabinet confidentiality is respected.”

There are speculations in the media that Braverman’s comments about Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India and Indian migrants are the primary reasons behind her ‘resignation’. A few days back, in an interview with the British weekly magazine The Spectator, she raised her concerns about the proposed FTA with India and went on to link it with illegal immigration. Furthermore, she tagged the Indians as the “largest group of people who overstay” in the UK.

In response to Breverman’s comments about Indian migrants, the Indian High Commission in London had said that the Government of India is committed to working with the UK government to facilitate the return of the citizens of India who had overstayed in the UK. Further, the Indian High Commission had added that India was awaiting the “demonstrable progress” on the commitments that were done by the UK government under MMP. Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, had refused to comment on Braverman’s statement because, in his opinion, that statement was given “perhaps for domestic perspectives”.

Boris Johnson set the Diwali deadline for finalizing the Free Trade Agreement with India. Liz Truss has also been supporting FTA with India from the beginning of her term as the Prime Minister. After Braverman’s comments, it was perceived that the FTA deal was on the verge of collapse. Now, after her ‘resignation’, there is fresh hope that FTA will be finalized soon.

Edited by Sara Irfan

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