By Ben Kerrigan-
British Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, has admitted she sent official documents from her government email to her personal address on six occasions.
Braverman resigned from her position after breaching security rules but was re-appointed by Rushi Sunak six days later Braverman also gave further details of the security breach and confirmed that she had sent official documents from her government email to her personal address six times between September 6 and October 19.
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The Home Secretary described the breach as occurring during occasions when she was conducting meetings virtually or related to public lines to take in interviews.
“None of the documents in question concerned national security, intelligence agency or cyber security matters, and did not pose any risk to national security,” she told the committee.
“None of the documents were classified as SECRET or TOP Secret.”
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Mr Sunak has faced questions about his judgement in reappointing her six days later – but has stood by her.
In a letter explaining her actions, Ms Braverman insisted there was no top secret or market sensitive information in the document she sent from her private email address to Conservative MP Sir John Hayes.
The document, a draft written ministerial statement on immigration plans, came to light after Ms Braverman also sent it to an employee of Tory MP Andrew Percy by mistake.
Dame Diana Johnson, who chairs the committee, has said that Braverman should come to the Commons in order to explain her position.
“She’s got to deal with this because until this is dealt with, she can’t get on and do the job of home secretary,” said Johnson.
It was confirmed after Johnson’s remarks that Braverman would appear in the Commons on Monday afternoon.
The home secretary “has admitted breaking the rules on an industrial scale,” Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said.
“If the home secretary wants to maintain even a shred of her dignity and credibility, she must resign now and apologise for her violations of the public’s trust,” Ms Chamberlain added.
Ms Braverman resigned on 19 October after admitting two breaches of the ministerial code by sending confidential material via a private email account.
The document, a draft written ministerial statement on immigration plans, came to light after Ms Braverman also sent it to an employee of Tory MP Andrew Percy by mistake.
Migrant Processing Centres
Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Home Secretary Suella Braverman over the government’s management of migrant processing centres. She’s due to make a statement to MPs at around 17:00 – she will also address an attack on a facility in Dover yesterday.
Ministers who break the code are normally expected to resign. The government is under pressure to tackle the growing number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, with nearly 1,000 making the crossing on Saturday and a further 468 crossing on Sunday.
This year 39,898 people have made the dangerous journey from France by boat.
Tory MP Sir Roger Gale says the situation at one centre – Manston – is wholly unacceptable as conditions have deteriorated It’s meant to be a short-term holding facility but more and more people have been sent there without others being moved on, leading to overcrowding.
The Home Office says record numbers of people arriving via small boats has put huge pressure on the asylum system
Nearly 1,000 migrants crossed the English Channel in boats on Saturday, the government says, with the yearly figure now close to 40,000. Braverman is also under pressure to explain her use of private email – she resigned over it under Liz Truss but was reappointed by Rishi Sunak
Ms Braverman is due to make a statement in the Commons on asylum processing centres at about 17:00 GMT.
Some 4,000 people are being held at a processing centre at the disused airport in Manston, Kent – when it was set up it was designed to hold 1,600.
Hundreds of people were moved there on Sunday after a fire attack at a separate migrant facility in Dover.
Migrants are only supposed to be kept there for 24 hours, but when the chief inspector of immigration visited last week, he found some people had been there for over a month. That included one family who had been there for 32 days, sleeping on mats in a marquee.
The Guardian reported on Sunday there were now at least eight cases of diphtheria and a case of MRSA at Manston.
The latest claims increase the pressure on Ms Braverman, who was already facing questions over the use of her personal email for government business.
She resigned as home secretary under Liz Truss over data breaches but was reappointed to the role by Rishi Sunak six days later.
Grant Shapps also approved the transfer of migrants to alternative accommodation to ease congestion at Manston during his brief period as home secretary.
But sources allege that Ms Braverman did not take measures to ease overcrowding by sending asylum seekers to hotels – despite warnings over the legality of what was going on at Manston.
Senior figures in Whitehall said the move was extraordinary and called into question whether Ms Braverman could survive in her position.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The home secretary has taken urgent decisions to alleviate issues at Manston and source alternative accommodation. Claims advice was deliberately ignored are completely baseless.
“It is right we look at all available options so decisions can be made based on the latest operational and legal advice.
“The number of people arriving in the UK via small boats has reached record levels, which has put our asylum system under incredible pressure and costs the British taxpayer millions of pounds a day.”
Roger Gale says the migrant processing centre had been “working very indeed” but there had been “a car crash”.
Sir Roger Gale, Conservative MP for North Thanet, where Manston is located, said the situation at the centre was “wholly unacceptable” and suggested it may have been “developed deliberately”.
“I was told that the Home Office was finding it very difficult to secure hotel accommodation. I now understand this was a policy issue and that a decision was taken not to book additional hotel space,” he said.
Former top official at the Home Office, Sir David Normington, suggested it could be a breach of the ministerial code if Ms Braverman had deliberately decided not to book hotels to address the overcrowding as ministers must not knowingly break the law.
Ministers who break the code are normally expected to resign.
The government is under pressure to tackle the growing number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, with nearly 1,000 making the crossing on Saturday and a further 468 crossing on Sunday.
his year 39,898 people have made the dangerous journey from France by boat.
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