DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Why Whitehall Blob loves to hate Suella Braverman

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Why Whitehall Blob loves to hate Suella Braverman

There is rich irony in the fact that Home Secretary Suella Braverman stands accused by the Whitehall Blob and others of being a serial leaker of sensitive information.

For if the broadcast media and Sunday papers are to be believed, Home Office officials, advisers, researchers and sundry other foes have been queuing up to leak confidential material about her.

And what a vicious lot they are. Less than a week since she was restored to the job by Rishi Sunak, these malign voices – most of them courageously anonymous of course – are trying to get her out.

So what’s the charge sheet? Yes, she used her personal email to share a Government policy document with a fellow MP. She also sent it in error to a researcher for another Conservative colleague.

These were regrettable and silly mistakes which clearly should not have happened – and because of which she resigned, before being reappointed by the new PM.

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: There is rich irony in the fact that Home Secretary Suella Braverman stands accused by the Whitehall Blob and others of being a serial leaker of sensitive information

She is further alleged to have had ‘secretive’ meetings with an ‘anti-woke’ fellow Tory MP about immigration policy (the horror!), not heeded legal warnings that migrants should be rehoused from the overcrowded Manston processing centre, and being slow to authorise alternative rented accommodation.

Even if this is true, the speed with which illegal migrants are crossing the Channel (almost 40,000 this year alone) and chronic lack of available housing are surely strong mitigating factors.

The problem is exacerbated by the interminable length of time it takes to rule on an asylum claim, thanks to the endless appeals lodged by migration lawyers. A barrister herself, Mrs Braverman is well aware that the system must be streamlined.

This campaign of vilification is reminiscent of the vitriol directed at her predecessor Priti Patel. Both are women, both are of ethnic minority heritage and both have radical ideas on curbing migration.

As her Cabinet colleague Michael Gove said yesterday, Mrs Braverman is under attack because she wants to drive through change at the Home Office, against resistance from many of her officials.

We don’t yet know how good a Home Secretary she will make. Solving the Channel crisis is a truly daunting task.

But she should be judged on her actions, not this flurry of malicious leaks. And instead of badmouthing her to the media, her officials might think about trying to help her. Isn’t that what they’re paid for?

Shaming of the Navy

Following the Mail’s revelations of appalling bullying and sexual harassment aboard Britain’s nuclear submarines, we report today on an alleged rape of a female rating by a fellow crew member.

Such an allegation would be horrific and deeply shocking in any walk of life. On the front line of our national defence it also constitutes a major security concern.

The First Sea Lord has rightly launched a full investigation. It must be thorough and uncompromising in its determination to clean out this toxic culture.

It is utterly shaming and smears the good name of the thousands of men and women in the Royal Navy who carry out their duties with exemplary skill and dedication.

Fighting the cyberwar

Two lessons must be learned from the apparent hacking by the Kremlin of Liz Truss’s personal mobile phone.

First, politicians should not discuss any important matters of state on insecure phones or computers. Secondly, hostile powers across the world are putting more resources than ever into cyber warfare.

As he prepares his Autumn statement, the Chancellor must now know that cutting spending on this crucial area of defence would be an act of national self-harm.

Two lessons must be learned from the apparent hacking by the Kremlin of Liz Truss’s personal mobile phone

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