The changes made by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the cabinet have stirred discussions more due to its background events and further developments. He removed Indian-origin politician Suella Braverman from the position of Home Secretary and gave it to James Cleverly who held the post of Foreign Secretary. To replace him, Sunak brought back David Cameron, who was prime minister from 2005 to 2016, to take the post of Foreign Secretary. Cameron had resigned following the defeat of Brexit referendum and has been staying away from politics since. He was not a parliament member but a nomination was made a peer to be him eligible for the post. It is natural for people to find it surprising that the former prime minister who took a break from politics has returned as a minister. However, more noteworthy are the developments that led to Suella Braverman's loss of position.
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Like Rishi Sunak, Braverman also acquired British citizenship through immigration. She uncured the PM's displeasure through an article that was supposed to appear in The Times carrying comments about pro-Palestine protestors. The Prime Minister's office asked the remarks to be removed but the more right-leaning Suella published it without doing so. The article criticised the softer attitude of the police to the pro-Palestine protestors who are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza when the same police department, she alleged, was strict with 'national protesters'. Braverman has also written earlier against the issues allegedly caused by immigrants in Britain. Some have been claiming that Rishi Sunak kept his Home Secretary around despite this because he himself agreed with her point of view. The criticism raised in connection with this is that the current cabinet has sacrificed Britain's traditional values. Israel has the unconditional support of Britain. At the same time, the UK does not want to be seen as bereft of its traditions when it comes to human rights, war, and multiculturalism. Braverman and the British Government were caught in this conflict. Braverman earlier spoke about protests and demonstrations against genocide and ethnic cleansing with disdain and sarcasm. When pro-Palestine demonstrators held a march on Armistice Day that marked the end of World War I, Braverman termed them hatred rallies. In a way, statements reflecting the same sentiment had come from the prime minister himself too. He said that such demonstrations on Armistice Day were disrespectful to the fallen soldiers of Britain. Many responded by saying that the Prime Minister had forgotten about the four lakh Muslim soldiers from the Indian subcontinent as well as the Arab soldiers who had shed blood for Britain in those times.
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Braverman's comments often angered British Muslims. Prominent British Muslim voices also have accused her of trying to create fragmentation in society. Sunak has maintained silence over her behaviour for a long time but now, it looked like politically this would cause harm to the party's future, and took action against her. Indications are that the Conservative Party has slim chancse in the next election and the PM has realised that Braverman is only making the prospects worse. Braverman was equally strident against immigration, although she herself was born to parents who immigrated to Britain from Mauritius and East Africa via Goa. When she went to the US earlier this year, her speech was against multiculturalism. She said she wanted to deport illegal immigrants to Rwanda. Former Home Secretary Preeti Patel had mooted this idea. Sunak realised it would not be wise to keep a minister given to stirring controversies, one after another.
It is yet to be seen if the second coming of David Cameron as the new foreign secretary will lead to any changes or gains for the UK. The British government has anti-Palestine views similar to that of the US and likes to talk about Israel's "right to self-defence". The cabinet does not worry about the civilians dying in Gaza and nothing much is going to change due to one member of the cabinet being replaced. The only gain from this move is that the mask of Western nations including the UK who pretend to care about values like freedom, democracy, and humanity is made to fall off.
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