UK home secretary resigns after just 43 days in post

LONDON

British Home Secretary Suella Braverman resigned on Wednesday, ostensibly due to sharing an official document from her personal email, but in her resignation letter she also criticized the direction of embattled British Prime Minister Liz Truss’ government.

Her resignation came just 43 days after she was appointed by Truss, in a further sign of the political chaos gripping Britain.

In a resignation letter to the prime minister posted on Twitter, Braverman wrote that earlier today she "sent an official document from my personal email to a trusted parliamentary colleague”.

"This constitutes a technical infringement of the rules,” she continued. “Nevertheless it is right for me to go.”

"As home secretary I hold myself to the highest standards and my resignation is the right thing to do,” she added. "The business of government relies upon people accepting responsibility for their mistakes.”

"Pretending we haven't made mistakes, carrying on as if everyone can't see that we have made them, and hoping that things will magically come right is not serious politics,” she said.

However, Braverman then went on to take a departing shot at Truss’ government.

"We are going through a tumultuous time,” Braverman said. “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 honouring manifesto commitments, such as reducing overall migration numbers and stopping illegal migration, particularly the dangerous small boats crossings."

Braverman is an eccentric figure from the right wing of the ruling Conservative Party.

On Tuesday, she commented in parliament on climate protests causing disruption, saying: “It’s the Labour party, it’s the Lib Dems, it’s the coalition of chaos, it’s the Guardian-reading tofu-eating wokerati – dare I say, the anti-growth coalition – that we have to thank for the disruption we are seeing on our roads today.”

The comments were ridiculed in parliament and on social media, where they went viral.

Following Braverman’s resignation, Truss appointed former Transport Secretary Grant Shapps as the new home secretary.

Labour Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “This Tory (Conservative) government is falling apart at the seams. To appoint and then sack both your home secretary and chancellor within 6 weeks is utter chaos. This is no way to run a government.

“Suella Braverman has admitted breaching security procedures which raises serious questions. There are also reports of major disputes about policy and we have had weeks of disagreements. We need an urgent statement from the prime minister. Home affairs, security and public safety are too important for this kind of chaos."

Last Friday, Truss was forced to sack Treasury chief Kwasi Kwarteng, after his mini-budget, dominated by huge, unfunded tax cuts, caused chaos in financial markets.

Truss appointed Jeremy Hunt the new Treasury chief. Hunt, a former culture, health, and foreign secretary, has spent his time since shredding Truss’ economic platform, reversing almost all the tax-cuts in the mini-budget.