Suella Braverman ‘puts migrants at risk’ with ‘invasion’ claim – live

Jump to contentSign up to our newslettersSubscribeNewsSportsVoicesCultureLifestyleTravelPremiumCloseSuella Braverman calls ‘broken’ immigration system an ‘invasion on southern coast’Suella Braverman has been accused of putting lives at risk by claiming Britain was under invasion by migrants, the day after a firebomb attack at an asylum processing facility in Dover.Refugee charities said the embattled home secretary’s remarks were ‘heinous’ and ‘dehumanising’ for refugees and migrants, adding that she also put Home Office staff and volunteers at risk.Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper accused her of ‘highly irresponsible’ language that did not take public safety seriously.Responding to questions in the Commons yesterday, Ms Braverman suggested that Labour was not ‘serious’ about stopping illegal immigration.She said: ‘Too many people are interested in playing political parlour games, covering up the truth [rather] than solving the problem,’ adding that her policies were designed to repel an ‘invasion’ on the south coast.Ms Braverman challenged critics to “get rid” of her after she rejected calls to resign over her response to overcrowding at a short-stay processing facility in Manston, Kent.The home secretary denied ignoring legal advice to procure more lodging amid warnings of dangerous conditions at the centre.1667291566The immigration minister has declined to repeat Suella Braverman’s claim of an ‘invasion’ of asylum seekers across the Channel, after fierce criticism of her inflammatory language (Rob Merrick writes).The scandal-hit home secretary has been accused of putting lives at risk with the rhetoric of the far-right – immediately echoed by Nigel Farage – one day after the firebombing of a refugee centre in DoverRobert Jenrick was asked if he would use the word ‘invasion’, but replied: ‘In a job like mine, you have to choose your words very carefully’I would never demonise people coming to this country in pursuit of a better life and I understand and appreciate our obligation to refugees.’Asked if Ms Braverman was ‘wrong’ to use the word, Mr Jenrick told Sky News: ‘I think invasion is a way of describing the sheer scale of the challenge and that is what Suella Braverman was trying to express.’Robert Jenrick distances himself from home secretary who was accused of putting lives at risk with rhetoric of far-right – immediately echoed by Nigel Farage Liam James1 November 2022 08:321667290246Liam James1 November 2022 08:101667289046BP has revealed that profits more than doubled over the past quarter (Zoe Tidman writes).The London-listed oil giant reported that underlying replacement cost profits – a measure preferred by BP – surged to $8.2 bn (£7.1 bn), compared with $3.3bn (£2.9bn) a year earlier.It was significantly ahead of the $6.1bn (£5.3bn) expected by market analysts.The report comes amid calls for a higher windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas giants.It comes week after Shell announced it had doubled profits from same quarter last year Liam James1 November 2022 07:501667287579Suella Braverman has been accused of putting lives at risk after claiming the south coast was facing an ‘invasion’ by migrants, the day after a firebomb attack in Dover (Kate Devlin writes).Refugee charities described the embattled home secretary’s comments as ‘heinous’ and ‘dehumanising’, while Labour accused her of ‘highly irresponsible’ language that did not take public safety seriously.The row erupted as prime minister Rishi Sunak came under growing pressure over his decision to reappoint Ms Braverman to the role last week, just days after she resigned for breaking the ministerial code.Home secretary admits asylum system ‘is broken’ as row over her own security breaches continues Liam James1 November 2022 07:261667285307The Treasury has reportedly warned of ‘inevitable’ tax rises as prime minister Rishi Sunak moves to fill a ‘black hole’ of up to £50bn in public finances.Mr Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt yesterday agreed to freeze the thresholds at which people start to pay the different rates of income tax and national insurance, according to The Daily Telegraph.Mr Hunt is looking to fill the shortfall through a combination of 50 per cent tax rises and 50 per cent public spending cuts in his Autumn Statement of November 17, the paper said.The Treasury said that ‘everybody would need to contribute more in tax in the years ahead’, without providing further details.’It is going to be rough,’ a Treasury source told the BBC.’The truth is that everybody will need to contribute more in tax if we are to maintain public services.’Given the scale of borrowing for energy bills support and the Covid-19 pandemic, the source said the department ‘won’t be able to fill the fiscal black hole through spending cuts alone’.Alisha Rahaman Sarkar1 November 2022 06:481667284379Home secretary Suella Braverman is under mounting pressure to relieve ‘catastrophic overcrowding’ at Britain’s main asylum processing centre for Channel migrants.Ms Braverman is reportedly considering plans to house asylum seekers in hotels, holiday camps and other resorts – alongside members of the public, rather than block-booking entire premises on behalf of applicants – after it emerged that the Manston facility is over-occupied.The facility currently houses an estimated 4,000 people, despite having been designed for just 1,600.The site, opened in January on a defunct airfield formerly used as a Defence Fire Training and Development Centre, was supposed to be a short-term holding facility where migrants could be hosted for 24 hours and processed by Border Force staff before being moved on to temporary accommodation.Kent facility opened in January intended for short-term detention and processing of applicants but is already struggling with overcrowding after high number of Channel crossings Alisha Rahaman Sarkar1 November 2022 06:321667283570’I made a mistake, I took responsibility, I resigned,’ said Suella Braverman, standing at the despatch box of the House of Commons. The words she chose were a direct quotation from her own resignation letter, which she sent to the now ex-prime minister less than two weeks ago.And yet somehow, by some weird alchemy, she still is the home secretary.Here she was, praising her own moral courage for having admitted her mistake, and doing the decent thing and resigning as home secretary, all while being the home secretary, writes Tom Peck.The home secretary can’t resign for her own gross incompetence because she already has resigned, so there. Suck it up, losersAlisha Rahaman Sarkar1 November 2022 06:191667282599Prime minister Rishi Sunak has ‘full confidence’ in his home secretary Suella Braverman, Downing Street has said.The statement came as Ms Braverman was embroiled in two rows, over leaks from her mobile phone and deteriorating conditions at the Manston processing centre for migrants in Kent.Challenged over reports that Ms Braverman fuelled overcrowding at Manston by refusing to book hotel rooms to house migrants, the prime minister’s official spokesperson pointed to a Home Office statement describing the claim as ‘baseless’.When asked if the prime minister had full confidence in his home secretary, the spokesperson told a regular Westminster media briefing: ‘Yes.’Andrew Woodcock has more.Prime minister Rishi Sunak has ‘full confidence’ in his home secretary Suella Braverman, Downing Street has said.Alisha Rahaman Sarkar1 November 2022 06:031667281253Home secretary Suella Braverman’s office demanded a 120-year-old magazine for solicitors remove an opinion piece because they did not like what it said.They told the Law Society Gazette that the article ‘should not have been published in the form that it has’.One added: ‘I’d really like it taken down and rewritten’, a Freedom of Information (FOI) release shows.Prime minister under fire for his appointment of home secretary Alisha Rahaman Sarkar1 November 2022 05:401667280361Labour leader Kier Starmer has been urged to ready his party for the next general election with a ‘laser-sharp’ focus on expanding the vote base with a small number of key pledges that demonstrate the party’s priorities.Josh Simons, who worked with the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, said that the party has ‘so much work to do’ to ensure the sizeable poll lead translated to election victory. ‘The phrase that I often come back to is that ‘it might be true that governments lose elections, but oppositions determine how much they lose by’,’ Mr Simons told The Guardian.He added: ‘We’ve won a couple of big and notable policy victories over the Conservative party over the last few years and that’s really helped situate Labour in voters’ minds as a serious potential party of government.”But what we now need to do is turn that into a coherent narrative about the moment that we live in, the challenges that the country face, and how Labour would address those.’Alisha Rahaman Sarkar1 November 2022 05:26Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalismBy registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalistsAlready have an account? sign inRegistration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalismBy registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalistsAlready have an account? sign inPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in