Starmer accuses Sunak at PMQs of making ‘grubby
deal’ with Braverman
Labour leader says reappointment has jeopardised
national security and exacerbated asylum crisis
Peter
Walker Political correspondent
@peterwalker99
Wed 2 Nov
2022 13.24 GMT
Keir
Starmer has accused Rishi Sunak of making “a grubby deal” with Suella Braverman
to reappoint her, thus jeopardising national security and exacerbating the
asylum crisis, in another prime minister’s questions dominated by the issue of
the home secretary’s future.
The Labour
leader used all his questions on Wednesday in his second face-off against Sunak
to target the new prime minister over delays in the processing of asylum
claims, conditions at the Manston camp in Kent and to question why Braverman
remains in her job.
Starmer
accused Sunak of bringing back Braverman, only days after Truss had sacked her
for a data security breach, so as to secure her support in his bid to replace
Truss as prime minister without a full vote of Conservative members.
“He did a
grubby deal with her, putting her in charge of Britain’s security just so he
could dodge an election,” Starmer said. “She’s broken the ministerial code,
lost control of a refugee centre and put our security at risk. She did get one
thing right – she finally admitted that the Tories have broken the asylum
system.
“So why
doesn’t he get a proper home secretary, scrap the Rwandan gimmick, crack down
on smuggling gangs, end the small boat crossings, speed up asylum claims and
agree an international deal on refugees? Start governing for once and get a
grip.”
In
response, Sunak said Labour’s asylum and immigration policy was “a blank page”,
and that Starmer had threatened national security by supporting Jeremy Corbyn
as Labour leader.
In a sign
of the continued precariousness of Braverman’s position, Starmer repeatedly
linked her reappointment to the wider issues over small boat crossings and
delays in sorting asylum claims. He asked Sunak what percentage of arrivals on
small boats across the Channel had asylum claims processed last year, and on
not being given an answer said it was just 4%.
“According
to the bookies, the home secretary has a better chance of becoming the next
Tory leader than she has of processing an asylum claim in a year,” Starmer
said. “They’re only taking half the number of asylum decisions that they used
to. That’s why the system is broken – 4,000 people at the Manston air force
base, massively overcrowded, all sorts of diseases breaking out.”
The Labour
leader pressed Sunak on whether Braverman had ignored legal advice that people
should be moved out of the Manston centre, which is meant to process arrivals
within 24 hours, into hotels. The prime minister said he was unable to comment
on legal guidance.
Starmer
responded: “The answer to the question whether the home secretary received
legal advice to move people out of Manston is yes. He just hasn’t got the guts
to say.”
Sunak did
defend his home secretary. In an initial question from the Labour MP Meg
Hiller, she asked him: “What will she actually have to do to get the sack?”
Sunak
replied: “The home secretary made an error of judgment but she recognised her
mistake and took accountability for her actions.”
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