Rishi Sunak dodges question over Suella Braverman's return as Home Secretary just six days after she quit over 'security breach' - with Labour accusing government of 'grubby deal'

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Rishi Sunak today dodged a question over whether Whitehall officials had raised concerns about his decision to reinstall Suella Braverman as Home Secretary.

The new Prime Minister returned Mrs Braverman to the role last night just six days after she had been forced to resign for breaching ministerial rules.

The Home Secretary quit last Wednesday after admitting to sending an official document from her personal email.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer this afternoon claimed Mr Sunak had done a 'grubby deal' with Mrs Braverman to give her back her job, after she supported his Tory leadership bid at the weekend.

Sir Keir and Mr Sunak clashed over the row in the House of Commons at Prime Minister's Questions.

The PM, speaking in the Commons for the first time since taking office, told MPs he had been 'delighted' to welcome Mrs Braverman back as part of a 'united Cabinet that brings experience and stability to the heart of Government'.

But the Labour leader suggested Mr Sunak's appointment of Mrs Braverman meant the PM had immediately reversed his promises on entering No10.

'Yesterday, the PM stood on the steps of Downing Street and promised integrity, professionalism and accountability,' Sir Keir said.

'But then, with his first act, he appointed a Home Secretary who was sacked by his predecessor a week ago for deliberately pinging around sensitive Home Office documents from her personal account.'

Labour was granted an Urgent Question to ask Ms Braverman about her resignation and reappointment after PMQs. But rather than face questions she left the Commons and left it Paymaster General Jeremy Quin to answer.

Rishi Sunak returned Suella Braverman to the role of Home Secretary last night just six days after she had been forced to resign for breaching ministerial rules

The Home Secretary quit last Wednesday after admitting to sending an official document from her personal email

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer this afternoon claimed Mr Sunak had done a 'grubby deal' with Mrs Braverman to give her back her job

At PMQs the Labour leader asked Mr Sunak whether officials had 'raised concerns about his decision to appoint' Mrs Braverman.

After the PM swerved the question, Sir Keir responded: 'I listened carefully, that was clearly not a no.

'We can all see what's happened here. He's so weak he'd done a grubby deal trading national security because he was scared to lose another leadership election.

'There's a new Tory at the top but, as always with them, party first, country second.'

Mrs Braverman had updated fellow Cabinet ministers this morning on her department's work to tackle illegal immigration.

At a Cabinet meeting in No10 prior to PMQs, Mr Sunak told his top ministers 'this was a complex and challenging issue but that the public rightly expected the government to find a long-lasting solution'.

Reports suggest that Mr Sunak agreed to put Mrs Braverman back in her old job under a weekend agreement in which she agreed to back his leadership bid.

The former attorney general, who ran for leader herself in the summer, has emerged as a standard-bearer for the party Right with Culture War attacks on the 'tofu-eating wokerati'. 

Her return has left Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, who advises on the ministerial code, 'livid', according to the Times. 

But a source close to the Home Secretary told the paper that it was a 'confected row', adding: 'Ministers do this all the time. They use private email and are also WhatsApping documents all the time too.'

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly today insisted there was no deal, insisting that Mr Sunak had the numbers to win the leadership anyway. 

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'The PM clearly wants to make sure that he has experience at the top of the Home Office. That's why he's reappointed her.'

Ms Braverman's experience at the Home Office amounts to around six weeks. She was first appointed in September by Liz Truss.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt also defended Mrs Braverman's re-appointment by Mr Sunak.

'She apologised for her mistakes. She’s been fully accountable for those mistakes, she stepped down as Home Secretary,' Mr Hunt said.

'But from the point of view of people at home, who want stability in the economy, they also need to see a united Conservative Party and that’s why the PM has put together a Cabinet of all the talents.' 

Tory backbencher Kevin Hollinrake claimed the row should be kept 'in proportion' as Mrs Braverman had not shared information 'with the Russian secret service'.

 'She made a mistake, she apologised for that. But I think you should keep things in proportion,' he told the BBC.

'She didn't share this information - which was information that had already been shared with MPs in some form or other - she didn't share it with the Russian secret service.

'She shared it with a trusted colleague, a fellow MP - someone who was acting as an informal adviser for her own policy decisions.'

Ms Braverman (pictured today)  returned to the Home Office yesterday just just six days after quitting for breaching the ministerial code by emailing Cabinet documents to a backbench supporter.

Reports suggest that Mr Sunak agreed to put her back in her old job under a weekend agreement in which she agreed to back his leadership bid.

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson told Today: 'It was a grubby deal that he struck in order to get over the line and become Prime Minister'

Labour's shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson suggested Mr Sunak had immediately reversed his pledge to lead a Government of 'integrity' by giving Mrs Braverman her job back.

She told Today: 'One moment Rishi Sunak is telling us he will lead a Government of integrity, and then another minute he's appointing someone back into the Cabinet who'd been sacked only the week before for a serious breach of security and a potential breach of the ministerial code.

'It was a grubby deal that he struck in order to get over the line and become PM.

'We end up in this bizarre position where all we're talking about is what's right for the Conservative Party and how they keep themselves united.

'I want us to be thinking about how we deliver a better Britain for the country. This should be about the future of our country, not the future of the Conservative Party.'

Mr Sunak appointed Mrs Braverman back to her former job as the new Prime Minister carried out a reshuffle of Government ranks on entering No10.

She replaces Grant Shapps, who had filled the role for the six days Mrs Braverman was away from the Home Office.

It means Mr Shapps now holds the unenviable record - previously held by Mrs Braverman when her first 43-day spell in the role ended in disgrace - as the shortest-serving Home Secretary in modern political history.

Mrs Braverman's return to the job of Home Secretary will be viewed as part of Mr Sunak's efforts to woo the Tories' right-wing as he bids to reunite the party.

She is popular among Conservative eurosceptics and was among the Brexiteer 'Spartans' who held out against Theresa May's Brexit deal in 2019.

The 42-year-old holds a hardline stance on immigration and recently said it was her 'dream' to have a flight take off to Rwanda as part of the Government's plans to send illegal migrants to the country.

Mrs Braverman has also spoken out on transgender issues and recently launched an attack on 'the Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati' as she defended proposals to crackdown on environmental protests that have caused recent disruption.

Mr Cleverly was asked this morning about Mr Sunak's claim yesterday that his government would have 'integrity, professionalism and accountability'.

Asked if Ms Braverman displayed these things, he said: 'So yes, by saying that she made a mistake, by apologising for that mistake, for standing down, she did.

'The Prime Minister has taken her apology and he has decided that what he wants is an experienced Home Secretary that has got recent - very, very recent - experience at the Home Office.'

But former Downing Street chief of staff Gavin Barwell has said he would not have given Suella Braverman the role back.

Asked if her reappointment undermines Rishi Sunak's claim to be a Prime Minister of integrity, Lord Barwell, who worked for Theresa May,  told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I can entirely understand why he wanted to include her.

'She's clearly the sort of champion of the ERG group of MPs, but I think given the events behind her very recent dismissal, personally I wouldn't have put her back in quite a senior job.

'So, looking at the day as a whole yesterday, and I think it was a pretty good start, the speech I think struck the right tone, that appointment of Suella is probably the one sort of contentious note.'

Ms Braverman's appointment came just days after she dramatically quit the Government after being accused of breaching the ministerial code.

Mr Sunak, who earlier promised that his new Government would be one of 'integrity', immediately faced questions about the decision to rehire Ms Braverman as Labour accused the new PM of 'putting party before country'.

The Liberal Democrats have called for a Cabinet Office probe into the return of Suella Braverman as Home Secretary after she was sacked for breaching the ministerial code.

Lib Dem home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said: 'Suella Braverman's appointment makes a mockery of Rishi Sunak's claims to be bringing integrity to Number 10.

'There must be a full independent inquiry by the Cabinet Office into her appointment, including any promises Sunak made to her behind closed doors.

'If it is confirmed that Suella Braverman repeatedly broke the ministerial code and threatened national security, she must be sacked.

'A Home Secretary who broke the rules is not fit for a Home Office which keeps the rules.'