Nov. 13, 2023, 5:41 a.m. ET
Credit…
Alberto Pezzali/Associated Press
Suella Braverman, who was fired from her post as Britain’s home secretary on Monday, had long been a divisive figure at the heart of the governing Conservative Party whose provocative rhetoric won her support on the hard right while alienating more moderate colleagues.
Her firing on Monday by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak follows the publication of an extraordinary opinion article in The Times of London in which Ms. Braverman rebuked the city’s main police force for deciding not to ban a pro-Palestinian protest march that coincided with Armistice Day, when Britain commemorates those who fought in World War I and subsequent conflicts.
Ms. Braverman — who as home secretary had been responsible for law enforcement, immigration and national security — also described the tens of thousands of people who have attended regular Saturday protests in London in support of Palestinians as “hate marchers” and “mobs,” despite the fact that the demonstrations have been mostly peaceful.
Downing Street said that it had not authorized the article, as would be customary, and it emerged that several changes requested by the prime minister’s office had not been made before publication.
On Saturday, critics, including the Labour mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, accused Ms. Braverman of encouraging the counterprotest during which some right-wingers broke through a police cordon and claimed that they were on the streets to defend a war memorial. The police said that around 145 people were arrested on Saturday, the vast majority of whom were counterprotesters, and nine officers were injured.
In her article Ms. Braverman claimed that the demonstrations were not “merely a cry for help for Gaza” but “an assertion of primacy by