FIRST Minister Humza Yousaf has called for Suella Braverman to be sacked, insisting she should not be allowed to resign.
Speaking to journalists as he arrived at Remembrance Day commemorations in Edinburgh, the First Minister accused the Home Secretary of “fanning the flames of division”.
Yousaf, who on Saturday insisted Braverman should resign, said: “The result of that, of course, is, as we saw, individuals on the far right actively attacking the police.
“I’m afraid that the Home Secretary’s position, in my view, is untenable.
“She should not even be allowed to resign, she should just be sacked by the Prime Minister because no Home Secretary should be fanning the flames of division – quite the opposite.”
It comes after Grant Shapps failed to back Suella Braverman’s survival as Home Secretary for another week on Sunday morning as she remained under fire for stoking tensions ahead of Armistice Day protests.
The Defence Secretary said “a week’s a long time in politics” when asked whether his Cabinet colleague will stay in her role until next weekend.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing intensifying calls to sack Braverman following scenes of far-right violence towards officers on Saturday resulting in dozens of arrests.
The Home Secretary has been accused of inflaming tensions after she branded pro-Palestinian protesters “hate marchers” and accused the police of bias for letting the rally go ahead on remembrance weekend.
Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper also said Braverman cannot stay in her job.
She blamed the ugly scenes in London on MBraverman’s “appalling and unprecedented attack” on the Metropolitan Police’s operational independence and impartiality.
“I don’t see how she can continue to do this job, she does not have the credibility or the authority to do the serious job of Home Secretary,” Ms Cooper said.
She added that Mr Sunak “needs to deal with this”, “because otherwise all that he shows is he is weak, he doesn’t care about policing and he doesn’t care about the security of our country”.
