British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sacked his interior minister Suella Braverman on Monday after her criticism of the police’s handling of a pro-Palestinian march divided his party and threatened his authority.
Under fire from opposition lawmakers and members of the governing Conservative Party to eject Braverman, Sunak seemed to have brought forward a long-planned reshuffle to bring in allies and remove ministers he felt were not performing.
Following her dismissal, Braverman said “it has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve as home secretary”.
“I will have more to say in due course,” she added.
Last week, Braverman defied Sunak by publishing an article accusing the police of adopting “double standards” in its treatment of protests — an argument opposition Labour said inflamed tensions at a pro-Palestinian demonstration on Saturday.
Then more than 140 people were arrested after far-right counter protesters skirmished with police, who tried to keep them away from the 300,000 pro-Palestinian marchers.
Sunak is expected to carry out a wider number of changes in his cabinet, bringing in allies and removing some ministers who his Downing Street office say have not been performing as well as he wanted in their departments.
