Suella Braverman has been accused of potentially breaking ministerial rules by questioning the impartiality of public servants over small boat crossings in a Conservative campaign message.
In an email to thousands of Tory supporters, the home secretary blamed “an activist blob of leftwing lawyers, civil servants and the Labour party” for the government’s failure to stop Channel crossings.
The comments prompted an angry response from civil servants, although Downing Street said Braverman “did not see, sign off or sanction” the email sent out to Tory members in her name by Conservative Campaign Headquarters.
In 2022, a record 45,755 people arrived in the UK on small boats. More than 3,000 have already made the journey so far this year, prompting ministers to publish a contentious new law, the illegal migration bill, which would criminalise, detain and deport asylum seekers.
The Tory party email, addressed to supporters and signed by Braverman, blamed civil servants for blocking previous attempts to tackle irregular migration.
Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA union, which represents senior civil servants, said the email amounted to a “direct attack on the integrity and impartiality” of public servants working in the Home Office.
In a letter to Sunak, Penman raised the possibility that Braverman may have broken the ministerial code to “uphold the political impartiality of the civil service”. He added: “I cannot see how the home secretary’s statement to Conservative party members can be reconciled with her obligations under the code.”
In a leaked Home Office staff Q&A after the email was sent, one civil servant wrote: “I have never been so embarrassed and ashamed to work for the department I once loved. Time to move on!”
Another added: “I’m finding it increasingly difficult to reconcile both our stated civil service values and my own personal ethical convictions with the rhetoric and policies the home secretary is pursuing.”
In an attempt to repair relations with civil servants, Braverman sent an email to Home Office staff lavishing praise on them for their help with the illegal immigration bill. She issued a “huge thank you” to officials across different teams and ministers’ offices, stressing that their work was “a credit to the department and the civil service”.
“I can’t possibly name you all, but I have received outstanding support from the whole department,” Braverman added.
The prime minister’s press secretary suggested there had been “operational issues” at CCHQ, which said it was now reviewing its internal clearance processes in light of the sending of the message.
“Obviously there would have to be ministerial signoff usually on things where their name is included on it or it goes out in their name,” she added.
Sunak reappointed Braverman as home secretary when he took over at No 10, just days after she was forced to resign after having been found to have breached ministerial rules by sending a sensitive document to a backbench Tory MP through a private email address.
The Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesperson, Christine Jardine, called on Sunak’s ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, to launch an official investigation into whether Braverman had breached the code.
“Ministers are expected to respect the impartiality of the civil servants, and be professional and respectful towards them. Braverman’s comments have fallen way short of those standards by attacking civil servants and dragging them into deluded Tory party conspiracy theories,” she added.
Lawyers have also condemned comments from senior Conservatives attacking their profession. The chair of the bar, Nick Vineall KC, said: “The home secretary’s recent comments referring to ‘an activist blob of leftwing lawyers’, and the prime minister’s comment that the leader of the opposition is ‘just another lefty lawyer’, betray a startling and regrettable ignorance about the role of lawyers in society.
“Lawyers represent their clients within the legal framework that parliament creates. Lawyers should not be associated with the causes of their clients as a result of representing their clients. Right-thinking people from across the political spectrum understand this. It is essential to the rule of law that members of the cabinet do too.”
A Conservative party spokesperson said: “This was a CCHQ email and the wording wasn’t seen by the home secretary. We are now reviewing our internal clearance processes.”
