LAST UPDATE | 13 Nov 2023

SUELLA BRAVERMAN HAS been sacked as British home secretary while former prime minister David Cameron has made a dramatic return to government.

British prime minister Rishi Sunak took action regarding Braverman following her unauthorised article criticising the way pro-Palestinian protests had been policed.

A Downing Street source said Sunak “asked Suella Braverman to leave Government and she has accepted”, with James Cleverly taking her job.

Cleverly’s appointment as Home Secretary amid Sunak’s Cabinet reshuffle left a vacancy in his former role of foreign secretary.

Former prime minister David Cameron was seen in Downing Street this morning, raising speculation that he could be in line for a dramatic return to government as foreign secretary. 

Cameron was prime minister from 2010 to 2016 before quitting after losing the Brexit referendum.

This move was later confirmed by Downing Street.

He’s back 🔥

Congratulations @David_Cameron 👏 pic.twitter.com/daOUcAWsUL

— Conservatives (@Conservatives) November 13, 2023

In addition to becoming the new UK foreign secretary, Cameron will also be made a peer. 

The new Foreign Secretary said: “Though I may have disagreed with some individual decisions, it is clear to me that Rishi Sunak is a strong and capable Prime Minister, who is showing exemplary leadership at a difficult time.

“I want to help him to deliver the security and prosperity our country needs and be part of the strongest possible team that serves the United Kingdom and that can be presented to the country when the general election is held. ”

Sunak’s reshuffle has also seen Therese Coffey resign as Environment Secretary.

The Cabinet exit of Coffey, who is a close friend short-lived PM Liz Truss and served as her health secretary, could cause anger among allies of the former prime minister.

In a letter to Sunak, Coffey said that it was “now the right time to step back from government”.

‘Hate marchers’

Braverman had come under pressure in recent days after she was accused of stoking tensions ahead of planned Remembrance events and protests against the Israeli attacks on Gaza in London over the weekend.

Writing in The Times, Braverman said “hate marchers” intend to use the Armistice Day protest as a “show of strength”.

The Home Secretary also characterised alleged reports that organisers of Saturday’s march were linked to Hamas as “disturbingly reminiscent of Ulster”.

Braverman said: “I do not believe that these marches are merely a cry for help for Gaza.

“They are an assertion of primacy by certain groups — particularly Islamists — of the kind we are more used to seeing in Northern Ireland.

“Also disturbingly reminiscent of Ulster are the reports that some of Saturday’s march group organisers have links to terrorist groups, including Hamas.”

When asked about these comments in The Times, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told The Journal: “I can’t really interpret her comments. I’m not exactly sure what was meant.”

Sacking one of the leading figures on the Tory right could pose difficulties for Sunak as he seeks to get his party united behind him and ready for a general election expected next year.

Braverman said: “It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve as home secretary.”

Ominously for Sunak, she added: “I will have more to say in due course.”

Meanwhile, the leader of the Liberal Democrats said that Sunak had shown “sheer cowardice” in keeping Braverman in post as Home Secretary for as long as he did, as his party demanded a general election.

Ed Davey said: “Suella Braverman was never fit to be home secretary. Rishi Sunak knew this and he still appointed her.

“It was the Prime Minister’s sheer cowardice that kept her in the job even for this long. 

“They need to put us all out of our misery and call a general election now.”

-With additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper