Pro-Palestine march: Rishi Sunak sacks Home Secretary Suella Braverman in reshuffle after pro-Palestine march row

Tory infighting began almost immediately after Suella Braverman’s sacking.

Rishi Sunak had been warned that backbench MPs would revolt if he ousted the home secretary, a flagbearer for the right of the party.

And minutes after it was confirmed she was leaving government, Andrea Jenkyns said she had been “sacked for speaking the truth”.

“I support Suella Braverman … sacked for speaking the truth. Bad call by Rishi caving in to the left,” the right-winger said on X.

Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has more on David Cameron’s suprise appearance in Whitehall this morning:

Minutes after Rishi Sunak kicked off a major reshuffle by sacking Suella Braverman as home secretary, David Cameron was seen entering Downing Street.

It is not known why the former PM is there.

It comes as Tory HQ has said Mr Sunak is “strengthening his team in government to deliver long-term decisions for a brighter future”.

It is believed foreign secretary James Cleverly is replacing Ms Braverman as home secretary.

Armed forces minister James Heappey said he does not “know what is going on” as he was told during a live broadcast interview about Suella Braverman being removed as home secretary during a Cabinet reshuffle by Rishi Sunak.

Mr Heappey told ITV’s Good Morning Britain (GMB) he had not received any confirmation of that development and that “you know more of what is going on than I do”.

Asked whether the decision came as a surprise to him, he said: “The prime minister makes these decisions and I’ve said I would not have used the words that the home secretary used in her opinion piece last week.”

Asked whether he felt Mrs Braverman had done a good job as home secretary, Mr Heappey replied: “The Home Office is an incredibly demanding brief within which there are a number of issues which are very politically contentious and where, frankly, there is no obviously right answer.

“And in that sense it takes a politician who is courageous and has the confidence in their convictions to do the job well and there are lots of things that Suella Braverman as home secretary has done well.

“I’ve made no secret in the course of this interview with my disagreement with some of the words she used in her piece [last] week. Your viewers will be enjoying my discomfort but it is in this case difficult to offer commentary when I just don’t know what is going on.”

Former Tory prime minister David Cameron has been spotted entering No 10 this morning, as Rishi Sunak conducts a reshuffle.

Minutes after Suella Braverman was sacked as home secretary, James Cleverly was seen entering No10 Downing Street.

The foreign secretary had been tipped as a potential replacement for Ms Braverman amid days of mounting speculation she was to be dismissed.

Ms Braverman’s sacking sparked a major reshuffle of Rishi Sunak’s top team, which many had expected later this year.

Rishi Sunak has sacked Suella Braverman as home secretary sparking a major reshuffle of his top team.

After days of intense pressure to axe Ms Braverman, the prime minister asked her to leave the government and she accepted.

The dramatic move threatens to open up a major rift between Mr Sunak and backbench Tory MPs, with those on the right of the party having threatened to rebel of Ms Braverman was ousted.

The move kicks off a reshuffle by Mr Sunak which will play out throughout the day.
It is not known who will replace Ms Braverman, but Tories who have been tipped for the job include business secretary Kemi Badenoch.

Other potential candidates include foreign secretary James Cleverly, leader of the House Penny Mordaunt, immigration minister Robert Jenrick and levelling up secretary Michael Gove.

Suella Braverman could continue as Home Secretary following a potential reshuffle by Rishi Sunak, a minister has suggested.

Asked on LBC whether Mrs Braverman was likely to still be in post by the end of the week, armed forces minister James Heappey said: “That is a matter for the Prime Minister.

“He and his team at No 10 have been very clear she has his confidence and, in that sense, one would imagine that she will continue.

“But that is his purview.”

Asked whether a reshuffle could be about to happen, Mr Heappey replied: “I have no idea whether today is reshuffle day or not.”

Former Labour MP Lord Walney said the balance “does not seem to be in the right place” when it comes to assessing the rights of protesters and the safety of the Jewish community.

Asked whether he wanted to see pro-Palestinian marches stopped until a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war is negotiated, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme said: “This is difficult because the right for people to protest is really important and there are clearly very strong feelings on this matter.

“However, I think if you look at the scale of intimidation which Jewish people in London and across the UK are feeling, we should be treating this as a national emergency.”

He added: “I think for the overwhelming majority of Jewish people, as represented by organisations like the Board of Deputies, like the Community Security Trust, they are living a life of fear at the moment in the United Kingdom, which is not something we should ever tolerate here.

“We should be prepared to look at where the balance is lying at the moment, and it does not seem to be in the right place.”

My colleague Maroosha Muzaffar reports:

Attacks by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group yesterday wounded seven Israeli troops and 10 other people, Israel’s military and rescue services said. The clashes came as skirmishes between the Iran-backed group and Israeli military continue to intensify along the Lebanon-Israel border, threatening to escalate into another front in the Mideast’s latest war.

The assault was the most serious incident involving civilians along the Lebanon-Israel border since an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon on 5 November killed a woman and three children.

The Israeli army’s chief spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said the Hezbollah attack on Israeli civilians was “very serious.”

He said Israel is focused on its war in Gaza but it also remains at a “very high level of preparedness in the north” and ready to take further action.

The Israeli military “has operational plans to change the security status in the north,” he told reporters. “The security status will not remain such that the civilians of the north do not feel safe returning to their homes.”

The Israeli military said in a statement that “seven IDF soldiers were lightly injured as a result of the mortar shell launches in the area of Manara in northern Israel earlier today.” Israeli rescue services did not identify the location or provide information about the 10 others wounded by rocket blasts and shrapnel, but said two of them were in critical condition.