No 10 says Suella Braverman did not approve email in her name attacking civil servants over small boats – as it happened

No 10 says Braverman did not approve Tory email sent out in her name including ‘cowardly’ attack on civil servants

Yesterday CCHQ sent out an email to Conservative party supporters about the illegal migration bill. It was purportedly written by Suella Braverman, the home secretary, and it started:

We tried to stop the small boat crossings without changing our laws.

But an activist blob of left-wing lawyers, civil servants and the Labour Party blocked us.

So today we’re changing our laws — and bringing the small boat crossings to an end.

The claim that civil servants are obstructing government policy has prompted Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA, the union representing senior civil servants, to write a furious letter to Rishi Sunak saying that Braverman has broken her obligation under the ministerial code to defend the impartiality of the civil service. In it, he said:

This is an extraordinary statement from a serving home secretary.

Not only is this statement factually incorrect, but the tone of that paragraph and the brigading of civil servants with the Labour party and ‘left-wing lawyers’ is a direct attack on the integrity and impartiality of the thousands of civil servants who loyally serve the home secretary.

I am sure I do not need to remind you that paragraph 5.1 of the ministerial code states that ‘ministers must uphold the political impartiality of the civil service’.

I cannot see how the home secretary’s statement to Conservative party members can be reconciled with her obligations under the code.

Penman also suggested the comment could put civil servants at risk. He said officials working in the Home Office have already been told to take precautions to protect their security.

At the post-PMQs lobby briefing Rishi Sunak’s press secretary said Braverman had not approved the email sent out in her name. The press secretary said:

The home secretary did not see that email before it went out. She did not see, sign off or sanction that email being sent out …

There would have to be ministerial sign-off usually on things where their name is included on it or it goes out in their name, but I think on this occasion there was obviously operationally the process was not followed.

Although the email may not have been written or approved by Braverman, when she was attorney general she did reportedly criticise government lawyers for being overly cautious about approving policies likely to face legal challenge.

Updated at 09.00 EST

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Afternoon summaryStarmer confronts Sunak at PMQs over ‘utterly broken’ asylum system – video

I spoke to the British minister yesterday on this and I told her that I think that this is violating international law.

Rishi Sunak with colleagues at PMQs. Photograph: Andy Bailey/UK Parliament/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 12.25 EST

A third union representing civil servants, the Public and Commercial Services union, has criticised Suella Braverman over the email that went out in her name. (See 1.56pm.) Mark Serwotka, the PCS general secretary, said in a statement:

The home secretary’s disgraceful and disrespectful comments come as no surprise to us.

Her government has, for years, treated hard-working civil servants with disdain and contempt, taking them for granted.

Rather than insulting our members and questioning their integrity, Suella Braverman should be encouraging the prime minister to give civil servants a fair pay rise to help them through the cost-of-living crisis and beyond.

Clive Lewis calls for UK to negotiate Caribbean slavery reparations

The Labour MP Clive Lewis has called on Rishi Sunak to enter negotiations with Caribbean leaders on paying reparations for Britain’s role in slavery, following the historic announcements by the Trevelyan family, my colleague Aamna Mohdin reports.

Humza Yousaf urges fellow SNP leadership candidates not to ‘trash’ party’s record after acrimonious debate

SNP leadership hopeful Humza Yousaf says his opponents should think carefully before “trashing” the Scottish government’s record after Kate Forbes and Ash Regan’s spiky interventions at the contest’s first televised debate last night. (See 11.44am.)

Yousaf was campaigning in sunny seaside Irvine this afternoon, insisting he was keeping the campaign “positive” and warning that his opponents’ attacks on his record and that of the Scottish government at last night’s STV debate may well have backfired. He said:

I’m very proud of the track record of our government, that’s delivered us election victory after election victory, and anybody that trashes that record – especially those that belong in government – does a disservice to our activist members.

Yousaf said he’d spoken to activists after the debate and that “there’s a lot of hurt” following the debate, in which Forbes implied the government’s record was “mediocre” and Regan said the party had “lost its way”.

Forbes also listed what she said were Yousaf’s failures in government. He said there was nothing wrong with opening up candidates to challenge “but let’s not make it personal”.

Humza Yousaf campaigning in Irvine today, beside a slogan that definitely does not sum up the tone of last night’s SNP leadership debate. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Updated at 11.50 EST

Earlier I posted a link to an article by the academic Rob Ford arguing that Rishi Sunak is unlikely to gain significantly, in electoral terms, from his “stop the boats” policy. (See 11.06am.) For a counter view, Ford recommends a twitter thread by Ben Ansell, another politics professor. He argues that there is a potential gain to Sunak because voters who have deserted the Tories since 2019, or who did not vote in that election, are more socially authoritarian (ie, likely to favour locking up and deporting asylum seekers) than average voters.

This thread starts here.

And here is Ansell’s concluson.

Ansell posted this yesterday, but Rishi Sunak announcing a review of sex education in schools at PMQs today fits the thesis.

Suella Braverman, the home secretary, has sent an email to Home Office staff insisting that she does value their work, my colleague Aubrey Allegretti reports.

Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the Conservative 1922 Committee who announced yesterday he is standing down as an MP at the next election, has been keeping diaries that he intends to publish, the Times’ Patrick Maguire reports.

A Home Office minister has been criticised for saying there was no need for extensive engagement with refugee organisations about the government’s illegal migration bill before its publication yesterday.

In evidence to the home affairs committee this morning, Lord Murray was asked what consultation there had been with organisations outside the government before the bill was finalised. Murray replied:

Well, clearly, it was a matter for policy development within the department and engagement across government. But it wasn’t a situation which required extensive engagement with third party [organisations].

In response, the SNP MP Stewart McDonald said there should have been full consultation because the bill was “rewriting refugee laws”.

Updated at 11.51 EST

A second union representing civil servants has written to Rishi Sunak demanding an apology for what was said about them in an email to Tory supporters purportedly written by Suella Braverman, the home secretary. (See 1.56pm.)

Mike Clancy, the general secretary of Prospect, urged Sunak to “take decisive action regarding this matter, to ensure there is a retraction and an apology given and put in place arrangements to ensure there is no repetition”. He said:

Blaming civil servants in this way, without foundation and without following due process, is we believe a breach of the ministerial code and playing politics with those dedicated to serving the government of the day and is completely unacceptable.

Updated at 10.54 EST

Conservative Campaign HQ (CCHQ) has said it is “reviewing” its internal clearance processes after it sent out an email in the name of Suella Braverman attacking civil servants (see 1.56pm) that she had not approved. A party spokesperson said:

This was a CCHQ email and the wording wasn’t seen by the home secretary. We are now reviewing our internal clearance processes.

Humza Yousaf, the SNP leadership candidate and Scottish health secretary, with supporters in Irvine, Scotland, today. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Downing Street has said it does not accept the criticism of its illegal migration bill from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. Yesterday UNHCR said the bill was “a clear breach of the refugee convention”. Asked about the comment, the PM’s spokesperson said:

Obviously we disagree. We recognise these are new approaches but we think they meet our international obligations. We stand ready to defend them in court.

RMT members to vote on new Network Rail pay offer

The RMT union has said members will vote in a referendum over the next 12 days on a revised pay offer from Network Rail, in a move that could spell the end to the most damaging rail strikes, my colleague Gwyn Topham reports.