Suella Braverman bottles it over 'ransom note' warning to Rishi Sunak

18 November 2023 , 19:40

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Suella Braverman says "to be honest I've made the point" (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Suella Braverman has bottled her ransom note warning to Rishi Sunak over the doomed Rwanda policy.

In a letter published after she was sacked by the PM on Monday, the ex-Home Secretary revealed Mr Sunak had agreed to a string of conditions in return for her lending her support to him in last year’s Tory leadership contest.

They’re said to contain his 'firm assurances' on issues including reducing legal migration, plans to stop small boats and Brexit.

Ms Braverman has held the threat of publishing documents proving the demands over Mr Sunak all week as he’s scrambled to save his floundering premiership.

But despite describing her old boss as “tepid and timid” and slamming his “lack of moral leadership”, she’s declining to publish the papers.

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Asked by the Mail on Sunday whether she’ll release them at some stage, she said: “'You'd have to ask the Prime Minister, he's got a copy of it, there were witnesses as well,' she says.

“I’ve got a copy. But to be honest I've made the point; I don't need to keep going over events of a year ago and if the Prime Minister wants to dispute what I'm saying he is able to do that or he can confirm because he will have a copy of the document.”

Ms Braverman has dismissed Mr Sunak’s plan to use “emergency legislation” push his Rwanda plan through, despite being thoroughly dismantled as unlawful by the Supreme Court.

She said: “I welcome the Prime Minister's announcement that he wants to introduce emergency legislation, something for which I've been calling for several months, which he blocked.

“I’m very glad he changed his view in the last few days but this needs to be meaningful change in the law and tweaking and fine- tuning is not going to cut it... and we will not get flights off before the next general election.”

Ms Braverman also confirmed she’s named after Dallas character Sue-Ellen, after her mother Uma was hooked on the soap in the 80s. Her name eventually morphed into Suella after teachers objected to the hyphen.

Mikey Smith