Home Secretary Suella Braverman has brushed off the suggestion that her visit to Washington DC is an attempt to boost her chances to be leader of the Conservative Party in the future.
Ms Braverman yesterday delivered a controversial speech in which she claimed multiculturalism had failed and advocated for changes to the way asylum seekers are defined to reduce the numbers arriving in the West.
There had been suggestions Ms Braverman was using the trip – taking place less than a week before the Conservative Party conference – to raise her profile as a potential successor to Rishi Sunak. She unsuccessfully ran to lead the party after Boris Johnson resigned.
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It is not the first time Ms Braverman has delivered a speech which might be more at home in a leadership race. The speech in the US was signed off in the usual way, according to Downing Street.
Should Mr Sunak lose the next general election, it is likely he will be challenged for leadership of the party.
Asked by the PA news agency if her speech on Tuesday was made with leadership ambitions in mind, the home secretary said: “With respect, that is a slightly flippant interpretation of what is a very serious issue.
“I am here meeting my US counterparts, talking about the epoch-defining challenge of illegal migration and I have set out my observations and my analysis of the problem, inviting international collaboration to find a joint solution.
“I think that is my duty as home secretary, and I am pleased to be here in America raising the salience of the matter and working with partners.”
Pressed again, she added: “I am here working as home secretary. I am very pleased to be working hand in hand with the prime minister to stop the boats, as he has pledged earlier in the year.”
Asked about her leadership ambitions yesterday by Sky’s Mark Stone, the home secretary said: “I’m incredibly honored to be here at the [American Enterprise Institute].
“The AEI represents the forefront of thought leadership and policymaking in the US and actually internationally, and to be hosted here to talk about migration in the international context, followed by meetings with my American counterparts is really again, part of my day job part of my duty as home secretary, I want to lead this conversation globally.
“And I want to work with like-minded partners to find a solution.”
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Ms Braverman also rejected claims she was lacking compassion following her speech – in which she said “we will not be able to sustain an asylum system if in effect, simply being gay, or a woman, and fearful of discrimination in your country of origin, is sufficient to qualify for protection”.
Asked if her speech lacked compassion, she said today: “No, I don’t think that is true.
“And what I would say is that we are facing unprecedented levels of illegal migration, not just in the UK but also in countries like the US and other Western or European nations.
“It’s right that we ask for greater collaboration at the international level among like-minded partners and, ultimately, the UK cannot sustain such levels of illegal migration, or indeed, legal migration.”
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And when it was put to her that reforming the UN Refugee Convention is an unrealistic goal, she said: “I am inviting my international partners to engage in an exercise of review and reform.
“Ultimately, I think it’s legitimate to ask these questions whether the definition of refugee in the international conventions is still fit for purpose, whether the definition of persecution has been stretched beyond a reasonable limit, and that’s in face of these high numbers that we are now seeing.”
