Senior Conservatives hit out at Suella Braverman's 'racist rhetoric'

London, April 14

More senior Conservatives have hit out at Home Secretary Suella Braverman's "racist rhetoric", accusing her of undermining the party for the sake of her own leadership ambitions, a media report said

Pressure was mounting on UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to intervene to protect the party's reputation after the UK home secretary stoked renewed anger by criticising police for confiscating a set of racist dolls displayed in an Essex pub, The Guardian reported.

Tory MPs, peers and activists have accused Braverman of inflaming racial tensions on a number of occasions over the past few months, saying they are worried that she is now at risk of repelling the kinds of swing voters the party is desperate to retain, The Guardian reported.

A former senior minister from Boris Johnson's government told The Guardian they believed Braverman was a "real racist bigot".

The person said "the country is not as grotesque as she makes it out to be", warning that the "Conservative reputation on discrimination has dropped to a new low" under her watch - "which also gives the country a bad name".

They added: "Sunak needs to build upon foundations we already have - stop the culture wars and create change. But his inaction shows how insecure he is in his own ability," The Guardian reported.

The criticism reflects widespread anger felt by many Tory MPs and peers about Braverman's frequent use of racially charged language.

Earlier this month, the home secretary said grooming gangs were almost entirely made up of British Pakistani men, whom she said "hold cultural attitudes completely incompatible with British values", The Guardian reported.

And last November there was an outcry after she said the small boats crossing the Channel amounted to an "invasion" of migrants.

Some MPs believe Braverman's interventions are a deliberate attempt to appeal to Conservative party members in case the Tories lose the next election and hold another leadership contest, The Guardian reported.