Britain’s Home Secretary Suella Braverman attends the government’s weekly cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London, England, on May 23, 2023.
Leon Neal | Getty Images News | Getty Images
LONDON – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fired controversial Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Monday as he begins a reshuffle of his top Cabinet.
Sunak’s office confirmed that Foreign Secretary James Cleverley will replace Braverman. In a surprise move, former Prime Minister David Cameron was appointed as the new Foreign Secretary.
Braverman drew widespread criticism last week after he printed an editorial in The Times newspaper in which he ignored instructions from Downing Street and accused London police of political bias in policing protests.
The Interior Minister has long been a controversial figure. She resigned from her post under Sunak’s predecessor Liz Truss due to a serious breach of the ministerial code after emailing an official document.
Braverman has repeatedly described pro-Palestine marches in London as “hate marches.” In the letter to The Times, she said the protests were “disturbingly reminiscent” of past scenes in Northern Ireland – comments that were widely condemned as inflammatory and inaccurate.
Following her comments, several right-wing extremist groups clashed with the police in London. They were criticized for undermining trust in the police before violent protests on Ceasefire Day on Saturday.
CNBC has reached out to the British government for comment.
The United Kingdom has officially confirmed Israel’s right to self-defense following the shocking terrorist attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7. Sunak has since backed calls for a humanitarian pause in Israel’s retaliatory bombing of the Gaza Strip, which has killed thousands of Palestinian lives.
Late last month, Conservative leader Paul Bristow was sacked as a ministerial adviser at the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology after he wrote a two-page open letter urging Sunak to call for a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.