Iain Duncan Smith says the sacking of Suella Braverman will be a “loss” to the Government.
The former Home Secretary was stood down by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after a series of controversial remarks, including branding pro-Palestine demonstrations “hate marches”.
The decision sparked anger amongst the Tory right, with the party’s deputy chairman Lee Anderson present at a meeting in Parliament where concerns were shared.
Speaking on GB News, the party’s ex-leader Iain Duncan Smith said Braverman’s qualities will be missed.
Duncan Smith has criticised the decision to sack Braverman
GB NEWS / REUTERS
“I am sorry to see Suella go”, he said.
“She is a highly intelligent lawyer and she understood the real threat we’re faced with in terms of getting these boats stopped.
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“She has been very much in the prime of doing all of that, so she will be a loss.”
Iain Duncan Smith added he was left “surprised” by the lack of a letter exchange between Sunak and his former Home Secretary as she stepped down.
“I didn’t know that. That’s not normally the way things should go”, he said.
GB News’ Political Editor Christopher Hope responded: “It’s unusual. It illustrates the coldness between the two people.”
Rishi Sunak has unveiled a radical shakeupGB NewsBraverman said she will have “more to say in due course” about her exit.
Sunak’s press secretary said there had been “issues around language”.
“It is clearly very important that we have a united and strong team at the top of Government. I would say there were differences of style and it’s right that we can move forward now and focus on what matters to people,” she said.
Former minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns submitted a letter of no confidence in Mr Sunak to the Tory backbench 1922 Committee as a result of his decision to axe Braverman.
She said: “If it wasn’t bad enough that we have a party leader that the party members rejected, the polls demonstrate that the public reject him, and I am in full agreement. It is time for Rishi Sunak to go.”
She said that Braverman “was the only person in the cabinet with the balls to speak the truth of the appalling state of our streets and a two-tier policing system that leaves Jewish community in fear for their lives and safety”.
Former Tory treasurer Lord Cruddas also criticised Sunak’s actions, saying: “The coup is complete, remain has won and democracy has lost.”