Priti Patel has threatened to sue Suella Braverman after her successor as home secretary blamed her for overcrowding at an asylum processing center as the ‘cold war’ between the couple continues, sources say.
- Priti Patel told the Home Office that he had blamed her for the overcrowding in Manston.
- It is the latest turn in the ‘cold war’ between the former Minister of the Interior and Suella Braverman
Former Home Secretary Priti Patel has threatened to sue her successor, Suella Braverman, in a dispute over immigration policy.
After being told that Ms Braverman’s Home Office had blamed her for overcrowding at the Manston asylum processing center in Kent, Ms Patel is believed to have called Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and said that if Ms. Braverman did not retract the claim within an hour, she would start legal action for defamation.
It is the latest twist in a “cold war” between the two, with Ms Patel’s allies claiming she is being “scapegoated” for policy failures associated with the small boat crisis.
A source said: ‘Priti worked around the clock when she was Home Secretary to tackle this issue and blew up when told her record was being criticized. Simon Case had to calm her down.
Former Home Secretary Priti Patel has threatened to sue her successor, Suella Braverman, in a dispute over immigration policy.
Tensions between Suella Braverman (pictured in Rwanda) and Ms Patel have come to a head over claims that failure to book enough hotels for migrants led to overcrowding at the Manston processing centre.
Tensions between Ms Braverman and Ms Patel came to a head over claims that failure to book enough hotels for migrants led to overcrowding at the Manston processing centre, with Ms blamed for Patel of making the process more bureaucratic than necessary.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick told the House of Commons that he inherited an overflowing Manston after “insufficient accommodation was procured for an extended period”.
Ms Patel denies this, insisting that she did not make any changes to the hotel reservation system.
Rishi Sunak has made stemming the tide of people crossing the Canal in small boats and then seeking asylum one of his top five political priorities. Earlier this month, he introduced new laws that he says will finally stop the “human rights” farce that allows migrants to resist deportation from the UK.
A clause in the Illegal Migration Bill, tabled to Commons by Ms Braverman, seeks to circumvent provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights that have allowed murderers, terrorists, pedophiles and hate mongers to evade deportation.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick told the House of Commons he inherited an overflowing Manston (pictured) after “insufficient accommodation was procured for a sustained period”.
One of Ms Patel’s secondary allies said her immigration reforms when she was at the Home Office had not been implemented “because certain members of the last government did not support this work and spent their time derailing it.”
In October, Ms Braverman criticized a deal with India, signed by Ms Patel, to increase the number of illegal immigrants and overstayers back in the country, saying the deal “hasn’t necessarily worked very well.” good”.
A government source said: ‘Suella has never publicly criticized the former interior minister and would not. Any suggestion he has privately reported is dead wrong. There was a block on new hotel bookings in the summer which contributed to the crisis in Manston.
Ms Patel declined to comment.
