It’s time Rishi Sunak deported Suella Braverman from his cabinet

Three strikes and she’s out? The latest allegations against Suella Braverman suggest a certain habitual pattern of behaviour.

Since she was first appointed home secretary last September, Ms Braverman has had to resign once over a breach of the ministerial code, seems to have abused her position again in trying to get a form of “private justice” over a speeding offence, and now faces fresh charges of failing to disclose a potential or perceived conflict of interest.

She should have gone by now in any case, but the latest revelations must surely also now attract the interest of the prime minister and his independent adviser on ministerial conduct, Sir Laurie Magnus. She must go.

Ms Braverman has had ample opportunity to declare her years of work with the Africa Justice Foundation, a charity with a focus on training lawyers in Rwanda. What might otherwise have been a rather obscure and historical link (she severed any formal links with the charity before she was elected an MP in 2015), becomes a matter of real and current interest now she is in charge of the Rwanda scheme to deport refugees.

Many of the lawyers trained by the charity now occupy positions of power and influence in Kigali, and of course the UK-Rwanda scheme means a flow of funds from the British taxpayer to the Rwandan government. As a matter of public interest, it seems obvious that Ms Braverman might at some point have taken the opportunity to mention her unusual links to the country.

One such chance to put the record straight came last November when Ms Braverman attended the Commons select committee on home affairs. Questioned by Diane Abbott about the safety of refugees in Rwanda, Ms Braverman cheerily told the MPs: “I have actually visited Rwanda twice, quite a while ago – around 2010 or 2009. I have always found Rwanda to be a very inspiring country.”

Indeed so, and she might have added she found her law students very inspiring too, some of whom have graduated to the Ministry of Justice in Rwanda, and thus may be concerned with any human rights cases arising there from the deportations from the UK.

At the very least, a mention at the select committee would have placed the matter in the public domain. The ministerial code is perfectly plain about the obligation that ministers “should be as open as possible with parliament and the public”.

We do not know whether Ms Braverman told her permanent secretary about her links to Rwanda. We do know that one former minister has told The Independent that the home secretary “never mentioned” her work with the charity and should have been “upfront and transparent”. Two former standards watchdogs said Ms Braverman should have formally disclosed her former role.

Apparently, the prime minister has now spoken to Ms Braverman and Sir Laurie, and is “gathering information” on the behaviour of his errant minister. Most of the facts are not in dispute, but certain details certainly require further clarification, from Ms Braverman and the prime minister himself.

Was Rishi Sunak aware, for example, that civil servants in the Home Office had contacted the Cabinet Office propriety and ethics unit because they were so concerned about Ms Braverman’s behaviour? Did Ms Braverman instruct her special adviser to deny to the press that she had had a speeding ticket?

This is unlikely to end well for Ms Braverman. She has a diminishing following among Tory backbenchers, and she has exasperated the whips, and perhaps the prime minister too, with her constant violations of collective cabinet responsibility.

To the detriment of her job, she is in a state of permanent campaigning for the party leadership, with little regard for the obligations of duty and loyalty. Even by the debased standards of the present Conservative Party she is an extremist and an embarrassment.

Mr Sunak should have fired her, indeed never have rehired her, long ago. He may well feel that he needs Sir Laurie to give him some cover for when the time comes for him to deport Ms Braverman from his cabinet. He does not wish to be seen by the more deranged in his party as being part of some conspiracy against Brexiteers on the part of the so-called “establishment” blob. That is understandable, though decisive action would do his image no harm, given his dithering over Nadhim Zahawi and Dominic Raab.

But go, Ms Braverman must: the sooner the better, in any case.