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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has refused to back Suella Braverman’s claims about police bias, as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces calls to sack her.
Mr Hunt said the home secretary’s comments in a Times article “are not words that I myself would have used”.
But he added “the prime minister has said he has full confidence in her”.
She claimed aggressive right-wing protesters were “rightly met with a stern response”, while “pro-Palestinian mobs” were “largely ignored”.
The home secretary defied a Downing Street request to tone down the article, which was published in the Times on Wednesday.
Mr Hunt said although he would not use her words, “I have a productive relationship with her as a colleague” and had “always given her the money that she needs to fund the police”.
Labour, the Liberal Democrats and some Conservative MPs have called for her removal from office over the article, in which Ms Braverman claimed police were applying “double standards” and “played favourites when it comes to demonstrators”.
Ms Braverman’s article was published following an announcement by the Metropolitan Police chief, Sir Mark Rowley, that he did not have grounds to ban a pro-Palestinian march due to take place on Armistice Day.
Downing Street say they are still looking into how the article came to be published without the changes they had requested.
There are suggestions that a decision on Ms Braverman’s future may not be made today, with the protest march and Armistice Day commemorations due to take place on Saturday.
As home secretary, Ms Braverman is responsible for the government department overseeing law and order.
But her critics feel she crossed a line by questioning the integrity of the police, whose independence to enforce laws is considered an important principle.
One of the UK’s most senior police officers has suggested policing could be undermined if “public debate” influences decision making.
Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown told the BBC it was “unwise” for the home secretary to write a Times article setting out her views on the protests.
Sir Geoffrey said it would be up to Mr Sunak whether to reshuffle his cabinet, but added “I think we cannot carry on as we are”.
One ally of Ms Braverman, Miriam Cates MP, disagreed with Sir Geoffrey and accused protestors of being responsible for “stirring up tensions”.
Ms Cates said the home secretary has a view which is very “mainstream in the rest of the UK” and “should be allowed to get on with her job in the way she chooses to do it”.
The political row comes just days before Mrs Braverman finds out whether the government’s flagship Rwanda plan for migrants can go ahead.
On Wednesday the Supreme Court will decide whether to back the Court of Appeal’s ruling in June that the policy is unlawful.
Ms Braverman’s article in the Times on Thursday was not cleared by Downing Street and it also emerged No 10’s suggested changes to the text were not followed.
The Times reported on Friday that changes made at the request of No 10 included removing a warning to the police not to take a “soft touch” approach at the Armistice Day protest, along with claims there was “ample evidence” senior police officers were biased.
The paper reported further requested changes, including suggestions that she remove a comparison to marches in Northern Ireland, were rejected by Ms Braverman.
One ally of Ms Braverman told BBC Newsnight’s Nick Watt that her “commitment to profound beliefs comes before calculation”.
“Unless the Archbishop of Canterbury, The Guardian, the BBC and most of the commentariat are up in arms about Suella Braverman then she’s not doing her job properly,” he added citing a source close to the home secretary.
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The Metropolitan Police has said it expects a large rally on Saturday, sparking fears of violent clashes with counter-protesters.
Saturday is also Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of World War One, which has prompted calls from the prime minister and others for the pro-Palestine march to be cancelled, on the grounds that it is “disrespectful”.
Met Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said protests may only be stopped if there is a threat of serious disorder, and that the “very high threshold” has not been reached.
In her Times article, Ms Braverman claimed there was “a perception that senior officers play favourites when it comes to protesters”.
Former Met Police Ch Supt Dal Babu noted the previous large-scale protests in central London in recent weeks have passed without public disorder.
He told BBC Breakfast the situation involving Ms Braverman is “very troubling”. “Normally these conversations would be held behind closed doors,” he said.
“The danger with the kind of language the home secretary has used – she talks about hate marches and she has been very derogatory about policing – is it will make far right groups more bold and possibly come out when there was no intention to do so.
“This is unprecedented and I hope people will use calm heads and calm voices to not to stoke up any potential disorder.”
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