A cabinet minister was asked if Suella Braverman is “trying to get herself sacked” following her latest controversial outburst.
Mark Harper was left squirming as he repeatedly refused to endorse the home secretary’s claim that the police are biased in favour of left-wing protesters.
Her comments, in an article for The Times, came following days of negative headlines caused by her outspoken views.
Braverman has already faced criticism for calling pro-Palestine demos “hate marches” and saying that rough sleeping is a “lifestyle choice”.
In her Times article, she said “there is a perception that senior police officers play favourites when it comes to protesters”.
She said: “Right-wing and nationalist protesters who engage in aggression are rightly met with a stern response yet pro-Palestinian mobs displaying almost identical behaviour are largely ignored, even when clearly breaking the law.
“I have spoken to serving and former police officers who have noted this double standard.”
Her comments came amid a political row over a pro-Palestine march due to take place in London on Armistice Day this weekend.
Rishi Sunak hauled Metropolitan Police commissioner Mark Rowley into No.10 yesterday to seek assurances that measures were in place to ensure the demo will be peaceful.
On Sky News this morning, presenter Kay Burley asked transport secretary Mark Harper if the Met was “biased”.
He said: “I think the Met Police are focused on keeping people safe for the weekend. They’re putting in place measures across the board to make sure the protest takes place peacefully, that people obey the law and that other members of the community can go about their lawful business.”
Burley said: “Do they do that in a biased way?”
Harper replied: “They do that in a very responsible way.”
The presenter asked again: “Is it biased?”
But the minister said: “They do that in a very responsible way, focused on obeying the law. They’re focused on keeping people safe and implementing the law, using the full force of the law.”
Asked if he agreed with Braverman that the police had “double standards” when it comes to dealing with left-wing and right-wing groups, Harper said: “I think the police are focused on policing to keep people safe.”
Burley replied: “It’s ridiculous for her to say this sort of thing. Is she trying to get sacked?”
Dodging the question again, Harper said: “The prime minister focused yesterday, when he had the commissioner is, on the substance of this issue, which is to check that the police have put everything in place to keep the Armistice and Remembrance events protected, which the commissioner assured him that he had.”
Burley then asked the minister if he would “say what she said in The Times this morning”.
When Harper again tried to avoid giving a straight answer, Burley said: “Why don’t you want to answer my question?”
But the minister replied: “I am answering your question - I’m just answering it my way.”