Suella Braverman news – latest: Home Secretary in fresh code breach claims after speeding row

Suella Braverman is facing fresh allegations of ministerial code breaches over her failure to formally disclose years of previous work with the Rwandan government.

The home secretary co-founded a charity called the Africa Justice Foundation with Cherie Blair, which trained Rwandan government lawyers between 2010 and 2015.

Several people the charity worked with are now key members of President Paul Kagame’s government and are involved in the UK’s £140m deal to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Ms Braverman did not officially disclose her previous links to the country when appointed home secretary in 2022, despite the deal being a lynchpin of the government’s migration policy and ongoing legal challenges alleging politically-driven human rights violations including torture, murder and kidnappings.

One former minister told The Independent that the home secretary “never mentioned” her work with the charity and should have been “upfront and transparent”, while two former standards chiefs said Ms Braverman should have formally disclosed her former role.

Ms Braverman resigned from her post as director of the Africa Justice Foundation weeks before being elected to parliament, and did not declare her previous role to Home Office permanent secretary Matthew Rycroft last year.

Lizzie Dearden reports:

There are a number of rules relevant to Braverman’s case, Jon Stone writes.

Suella Braverman is facing fresh allegations that she broke the ministerial code over her failure to formally disclose years of previous work with the Rwandan government.

The home secretary is already facing accusations that she broke the ministerial code after the Sunday Times revealed Ms Braverman asked her staff to help her dodge a speeding fine.

These recent accusations are not the only time the home secretary has been accused of breaking ministerial rules.

Here are some of her other controversial moments from the past:

Email about civil servants

In March, an email sent out to Conservative Party members in Mrs Braverman’s name blamed “an activist blob of left-wing lawyers, civil servants and the Labour Party” for blocking previous attempts to tackle illegal migration.

She was accused of potentially breaking ministerial rules by questioning the impartiality of public servants after the publication of the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill.

Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union which represents senior civil servants, said the email amounted to a “direct attack on the integrity and impartiality” of those working in the Home Office.

The Prime Minister’s press secretary told reporters Mrs Braverman “did not see, sign off or sanction” the email, which she said was sent in error.

Sacking after using a personal email for official business

Liz Truss forced Mrs Braverman out as home secretary in October 2022 after she breached the ministerial code by sending an official document to a Tory backbencher from a personal email.

Mrs Braverman, who had been in the role six weeks, said she made a “mistake” which she conceded was a “technical infringement” of the rules.

Six days later, after Ms Truss resigned as prime minister, her successor Mr Sunak reinstated Mrs Braverman.

Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats raised “national security” concerns and demanded a Cabinet Office investigation.

Outburst against ‘tofu-eating wokerati’

Just before being sacked, Mrs Braverman accused opposition parties of being a “coalition of chaos” when discussing the Public Order Bill to crack down on disruptive protests.

She told the Commons: “It’s the Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati, dare I say, the anti-growth coalition that we have to thank for the disruption that we are seeing on our roads today.”

Ms Cooper said Mrs Braverman’s words were “astonishing”, adding: “The home secretary actually talked about a coalition of chaos – we can see it in front of us as we speak.”

Rwanda comments

The home secretary attracted criticism when talking about migration during a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference in October last year.

Mrs Braverman said she would “love to be here claiming victory, I would love to be having a front page of the Telegraph with a plane taking off to Rwanda, that’s my dream, that’s my obsession”.

She said it would be “amazing” if the first UK flight carrying migrants to the African country could take off by Christmas, but added: “If I’m honest, I think it’s going to take longer.”

Public clashes with Downing Street

On at least two occasions while Ms Truss was prime minister, she expressed views which put her at odds with Government policy.

Ms Braverman said she had “reservations” about relaxing immigration controls as part of any trade deal with India, telling the Spectator magazine 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”.

Her comments were reported to have provoked a furious reaction from ministers and officials in New Delhi.

She also faced criticism from a senior Government source for calling on the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, who said: “Her personal views are contrary to Government policy and if she wishes to make those views known within Government she should do so in a more appropriate setting.”

Suella Braverman is facing fresh allegations of ministerial code breaches over her failure to formally disclose years of previous work with the Rwandan government.

The home secretary co-founded a charity called the Africa Justice Foundation with Cherie Blair, which trained Rwandan government lawyers between 2010 and 2015.

Several people the charity worked with are now key members of President Paul Kagame’s government and are involved in the UK’s £140m deal to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Ms Braverman did not officially disclose her previous links to the country when appointed home secretary in 2022, despite the deal being a lynchpin of the government’s migration policy and ongoing legal challenges alleging politically-driven human rights violations including torture, murder and kidnappings.

Lizzie Dearden reports:

Conservative MPs are urging Rishi Sunak to order an investigation into Suella Braverman and sack her if the home secretary is found to have breached the ministerial rules over her handling of a speeding offence.

Senior Tory MPs told The Independent Ms Braverman had shown “constant poor judgement” and appeared to have made “a mistake too far” following reports she asked officials to try to arrange a private speed awareness course rather than take points on her licence.

In her first public comments on the row, the home secretary did not deny asking civil servants to look into the possibility of a one-on-one course – but said she was confident she had done “nothing untoward” and denied trying to “evade” punishment.

Adam Forrest and Archie Mitchell report:

Had Suella Braverman abided by Rishi Sunak’s injunction on his first day in office to practice ‘integrity, professionalism and accountability’, she would not now be in the trouble she finds herself.

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