In most challenging week as UK PM, Rishi Sunak faces big decision on whether to sack home secretary Braverman

In what will turn out to be one of his most challenging weeks as the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak will have to take the tough decision of whether to retain home secretary Suella Braverman after her criticism of police tactics toward pro-Palestinian protesters was blamed for drawing out far-right groups that clashed with officers during mass demonstrations in London on Saturday. The immediate threat of chaos on London’s streets has subsided, but that may only provide brief respite for Sunak. On Sunday, a Downing Street official declined to say if Braverman would still be in her job in a week, while Defense Secretary Grant Shapps responded to the same question only by noting that “a week is a long time in politics.” The UK PM has come under pressure to haul up Braverman for criticizing the Metropolitan Police in a newspaper commentary hours after he had appeared to resolve disputes with the force’s commissioner about protests overlapping with annual events to commemorate Britain’s war dead. Two Cabinet members on Sunday described the challenge to the prime minister’s authority as untenable, despite Braverman’s strong popularity among the Conservative Party’s right wing. If Sunak retains Braverman, he’ll feed efforts by Labour leader Keir Starmer to paint him as weak ahead of an expected general election early next year, one Tory lawmaker said. Ousting the home secretary may prompt the right to revolt, leaving the Conservatives even more divided, another said, calling it a lose-lose situation. More than 300,000 pro-Palestine demonstrators turned out Saturday for the largest march in London since the start of the Israel-Hamas war more than a month ago. Some protest leaders credited Braverman – who had branded participants as “hate marchers,” in reference to reports that past events had included chants of “jihad” - with increasing public support. The Met has also blamed the political drama for making their efforts to maintain public order more difficult. The conflict in Gaza, the Armistice Day holiday and the intense debate about protest and policing “all combined to increase community tensions,” Assistant Police Commissioner Matt Twist said late on Saturday. Shapps, who was representing the government on the Sunday political talk shows, deflected questions about Braverman’s responsibility, telling Sky News: “These marches were already going to happen. These counter-protests were already going to happen.” When asked about her future, he said the makeup of the government was a matter for the prime minister. The Met made some 145 arrests during the demonstrations Saturday, including scores of counter-protesters whom police prevented from intercepting the largely peaceful pro-Palestine march. The Met said Sunday that seven men had been charged with a variety of offenses, including assault on an emergency worker, criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon. “This can’t go on,” Braverman said on the social media platform X on Sunday, thanking police and calling the injuries suffered by some officers “an outrage.” While she mentioned “violence and aggression” by members of both camps, she focused her criticism on the pro-Palestine marchers. Police have posted photographs on social media of people they are looking to identify over possible anti-Semitic hate crimes and supporting Hamas, which the UK has designated as a terrorist organization. Braverman, who oversees immigration policy, is closely linked to another looming milestone for Sunak: a UK Supreme Court ruling due on Wednesday on the legality of the government’s plan to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda. The timing complicates the prime minister’s decision on Braverman because waiting until after the judgment is handed down risks making it look like the two events were related. The government isn’t confident it will win the Rwanda case, the Downing Street official said. Some Conservative officials were bracing for a Cabinet rejig, which they believed could come as early as Monday, when Sunak’s public schedule is clear other than a foreign policy speech in the evening. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden held meetings last week to discuss a potential reshuffle, Bloomberg reported last week. Several Tory lawmakers have privately urged Sunak to sack Braverman, echoing public demands for her exit by the opposition Labour Party.