Gove ‘more than satisfied’ with Braverman appointment amid security concerns

Cabinet minister Michael Gove has rejected calls for the Government to publish documents on Suella Braverman’s security breach, insisting he is ‘more than satisfied’ with her reappointment as Home Secretary.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under mounting pressure over his decision to reinstall her in the role just six days after she was forced out over a security breach.Labour is demanding the Government publish its assessments of Ms Braverman’s sharing of a sensitive document with a Tory backbencher from a personal email without permission.But Mr Gove, who made a return to Cabinet this week as Levelling Up Secretary, indicated that will not happen. It becomes a distraction if people are asking these questionsLevelling Up Secretary Michael Gove’When we publish everything, we also potentially publish information that can compromise the effective operation, not just of government, but of national security itself,’ he told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.’I also, critically, want to ensure that what we don’t do is, on the basis of the imperfect information that is in the public domain, rush to judgment in a way that would seem to me to be inappropriate.’Asked if Ms Braverman is a politician of integrity, Mr Gove said: ‘Absolutely.’Suella is a first-rate, front-rank politician.’I am satisfied, more than satisfied, that in resigning, accepting responsibility, apologising, and then in being assured by the Cabinet Secretary and the Prime Minister that Suella coming back into office was the right thing, that Suella is now in a position to do the work that she is dedicated to doing.’Questions have also been raised about the Home Secretary’s account that she immediately reported her mistake, further cast into doubt by the emergence of an email from her personal account in which she asked the recipient of a message sent in error to ‘ignore and delete’.Mr Gove insisted this is ‘standard practice’.He suggested Ms Braverman is facing opposition because she is ‘brave’ and ‘making changes’.’You only take flak if you’re over the target,’ he said.The former journalist also appeared to blame the media for the furore around the matter, saying: ‘It becomes a distraction if people are asking these questions.’ You can’t have a Home Secretary who is not trusted by the security service, who is not trusted with important government informationShadow home secretary Yvette CooperBut shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘You can’t have a Home Secretary who is not trusted by the security service, who is not trusted with important government information.’The Labour MP told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme: ‘We have to have proper answers about whether or not this was the first security breach from Suella Braverman.’We think that the papers and the warnings that were provided by the Cabinet Office and by the Cabinet Secretary to the Prime Minister should be sent to the Intelligence and Security Committee.’So far, we’ve been asking repeatedly whether the Home Secretary has used her personal phone to send other government documents.’There’s also questions about whether she was investigated for other security leaks, including around a case involving the security service, and around a case involving sensitive legal advice around Northern Ireland.’The Government also faces questions over another security issue after an incendiary report that Liz Truss’s phone was hacked by Russian agents.Mr Gove said the Government takes security issues ‘incredibly seriously’ and has ‘very robust protocols’ in place.