There’s been humiliation for Suella Braverman after she decided to hit out at a resettlement scheme for Afghans.
Suella Braverman is one of a few ex-Tories who have tried to wash their hands with the party in recent years in the hope that people forget the role they played in the disastrous 14 years of Conservative rule.
But thanks to the internet, their words are forever there for all to see.
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This means the likes of Braverman can be left embarrassed quite easily when their old comments and actions resurface.
Reform’s social media feud with former Tory defence secretary
This week, Braverman and her Reform colleague Zia Yusuf have been involved in a bad-tempered social media spat with former Tory MP Ben Wallace.
The exchanges started after Wallace criticised Reform’s new prisons policy and was followed by Yusuf labelling the ex-defence secretary a “traitor” and criticising him for his role in an Afghan resettlement scheme.
Some 20,000 people from Afghanistan moved to the UK under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP), and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).
Both set up by the Tories, the schemes were designed to help Afghans who had worked for or with the UK Government in Afghanistan in exposed or meaningful roles and faced a serious threat to life.
Braverman hits out at “appalling” scheme – that she praised in Commons
After a back and forth on X between Wallace and Yusuf, Braverman decided to get involved and labelled the ARAP an “appalling scheme that put huge pressure on then Home Office.”
She labelled Wallace the “biggest cheerleader for it in government,” adding that she was “glad I’ve left that rotten party,” in reference to the Conservative Party.
After Wallace pointed out to Braverman the differences between the two schemes, and explained how she was actually in charge of one during her time as Home Secretary, Braverman replied: “Your evangelism about bringing thousands of Afghans into the UK was an appalling misjudgment.”
She added: “Both ARAP AND ACRS were Great Betrayals by the last Conservative government (introduced before I was Home Secretary) and must never happen again.”
But now, Braverman has been left with egg on her face after a clip of her praising the resettlement scheme re-emerged online.
A video from the House of Commons in 2023 shows the then-home secretary telling the house how “very proud” she was of the “high number of Afghans who have been resettled and welcomed into the United Kingdom”.
She continued: “Between 2015 and 2022, almost 50,000 people have been resettled and relocated, of which over 21,000 were through the Afghan schemes – the ACRS and ARAP.
“And over 28,000 were through established resettlement schemes related to other countries. So I think that is a good track record.”
Along with this, a community note has appeared under Braverman’s response to Wallace, highlighting the comments she had made in 2023.
There was plenty of mockery of Braverman after the clip resurfaced, with some labelling it “staggering hypocrisy” from the Reform MP.