Rishi Sunak urged to take stand against Suella Braverman's 'racist' rhetoric

The UK Home Secretary has made a string of inflammatory comments in recent weeks

Britain's Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attend a meeting of the Grooming Gang Taskforce. Reuters

Senior Conservatives have called on the Prime Minister to take a stand against Suella Braverman, who has been accused of repeatedly inflaming racial tensions.

The Home Secretary’s inflammatory rhetoric has included comments about small boats crossing the Channel, and she has singled out British Pakistani men over concerns about grooming gangs.

She also reportedly shared concerns with Essex Police after officers removed several golliwog dolls from the White Hart Inn in Grays, Essex, on April 4, as part of an investigation into alleged hate crime.

According to reports, the Home Secretary’s “unhappiness” was shared with the force.

Tory peer Baroness Sayeeda Warsi hit out at her recent remarks, saying “it has got to stop” earlier this week.

And now another senior Conservative has spoken out, branding her a “real racist bigot”.

The unnamed former senior minister from Boris Johnson’s government told The Guardian “the country is not as grotesque as she makes it out to be.”

They warned that the “Conservative reputation on discrimination has dropped to a new low” under her watch — “which also gives the country a bad name.”

“[Rishi] 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,” they added.

Speaking to LBC earlier this week, Baroness Warsi also called on Mr Sunak to take a stand.

“I think the Prime Minister has to get a really strong message that this kind of rhetoric, whether it's on small boats, whether it's the stuff she was saying on the weekend which is not based on evidence, not nuanced, not kind of explanatory in any way, it has got to stop.

“And you know, again today, we've woken up to a story where she's having a go at the police for removing golliwog dolls from a pub.”

A team of officers attended the pub in Essex recently to remove the golliwog dolls after a report of someone being racially harassed, alarmed or distressed by their presence. The dolls are based on 18th century minstrels and are now regarded as racist caricatures.

The Mail Online quoted a Home Office source as saying police forces “should not be getting involved in this kind of nonsense” and instead focus on “catching criminals.”

Ms Braverman's reported intervention comes after she drew criticism recently for singling out British Pakistani men over grooming gang concerns, despite government research finding no clear link between gang members and ethnicity.

The Home Secretary, who once railed against “tofu-eating wokerati”, is generally regarded as a divisive figure for her remarks on migration and “culture war” issues.

Essex Police said it was “categorically not true” that Ms Braverman had contacted the force about the investigation, but it did not deny having been contacted by the Home Office.