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Tories ‘heading for defeat’ at general election, warns Braverman
The Conservative Party is “heading for a defeat” at the general election and must improve the offer it is making to voters, Suella Braverman warned this morning.
The former home secretary said she hoped the Tories will “change course” and be bolder on key issues like tax and migration.
Asked about what the Tories could expect at the contest, Mrs Braverman told LBC: “I am very concerned. I am very concerned about what poll after poll demonstrates. It is my job, and I sought to do this as home secretary, to speak honestly, to speak the truth even if it may be uncomfortable.
“I owe that to the people who have sent me to Parliament and I owe that to you and so the honest truth is that we are heading for a defeat, to put it mildly, at the general election. I very much hope that we change course and that we improve the offer to the British people.
“Ultimately measures on tax cuts, measures on migration, measures on national security and social cohesion and extremism are insufficient by this Government.
“We need to go further, we need to demonstrate to the British people that we are on their side, that we are serious about stopping the boats, that we are actually serious about curbing unprecedented levels of illegal migration and unfortunately we haven’t managed to do that.”
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Sunak’s Rwanda plan ‘won’t deliver’, says ex-home secretary
Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plan will not deliver regular deportation flights filled with hundreds of passengers, according to Suella Braverman.
The former home secretary said she believed “token” flights might happen but only a small number of people would actually be sent to Rwanda.
As a result the policy will not be a deterrent to small boat Channel crossings, she argued.
“The point is that I have got a fundamental disagreement with the Government on the plan as it stands today,” she told LBC this morning.
“I do believe that we may well get a flight off, a token flight, with a low number of passengers on it to Rwanda.
“That is not deterrence. The only way we generate a deterrent effect to stop people getting on the boats and coming into the UK illegally is regular flights with hundreds of passengers on those flights being sent to Rwanda on a regular basis.
“I am afraid the plan as it stands today won’t deliver that.”
Tories not in a ‘good’ state under Sunak’s leadership, says Braverman
The Conservative Party is not in a “good” state under Rishi Sunak’s leadership, Suella Braverman said.
The former home secretary was asked during an interview on LBC this morning how she believed Mr Sunak was doing as Tory leader and as Prime Minister.
She replied: “Listen, it is a very difficult job that he has got on his hands and I don’t envy him and he is working hard and he is a diligent man.
“I have been very clear, however, that the state of the party is not a good one and I have been urging him for some time to change course.”
UK must not ‘walk away’ from Israel, says Braverman
The UK must not “walk away” from Israel and stop selling the country arms, Suella Braverman suggested this morning.
There have been growing calls for the UK to suspend the sale of arms after an Israeli airstrike killed seven aid workers including three Britons last week.
But Mrs Braverman, the former home secretary, said UK support for Israel should continue.
Asked if the UK should stop selling arms to Israel, she told LBC: “I don’t think the fact that these tragedies happen is a reason to walk away from Israel and stop selling arms to Israel because of that broader battle that they are engaging with.”
Suella Braverman: Tories ‘heading for defeat’ at general election
The Conservative Party is “heading for a defeat” at the general election, Suella Braverman warned this morning.
The former home secretary said she hoped the Tories will “change course” and be bolder on key issues like tax and migration as she argued the current offer to voters is “insufficient”.
Asked about what the Tories could expect at the contest, Mrs Braverman told LBC: “I am very concerned. I am very concerned about what poll after poll demonstrates. It is my job, and I sought to do this as home secretary, to speak honestly, to speak the truth even if it may be uncomfortable.
“I owe that to the people who have sent me to Parliament and I owe that to you and so the honest truth is that we are heading for a defeat, to put it mildly, at the general election. I very much hope that we change course and that we improve the offer to the British people.
“Ultimately measures on tax cuts, measures on migration, measures on national security and social cohesion and extremism are insufficient by this Government.
“We need to go further, we need to demonstrate to the British people that we are on their side, that we are serious about stopping the boats, that we are actually serious about curbing unprecedented levels of illegal migration and unfortunately we haven’t managed to do that.”