Outspoken UK Interior Minister Who Opposed Trade Deal With India Quits

The United Kingdom’s outspoken interior minister, Suella Braverman, who opposed the free trade deal with India-UK, has resigned from her position after just 43 days in the role.

NEW DELHI | Updated: 19 October, 2022 10:05 pm IST
Suella Braverman, British MP of Indian origin

The United Kingdom’s outspoken interior minister, Suella Braverman, who opposed the free trade deal with India-UK, has resigned from her position after just 43 days in the role. The 42-year-old member of the conservative party had put her resignation letter on her Twitter handle.

According to a report on cnbc.com, Braverman, in her letter, said: “It is with the greatest regret that I am choosing to tender my resignation.”

She also mentioned that she had sent an official document – a draft of a written ministerial statement that had not been published – from her personal email to a parliamentary colleague in order to get support for her policy. This, she explained, “constitutes a technical infringement of the rules.”

While the letter was cited as the reason for her resignation, there is no doubt that her outspoken nature exacerbated the already volatile UK politics.

Suella Braverman’s resignation letter posted on her twitter handle

 

Braverman, whose father is a Goan while her mother is of Tamil origin, had earlier opposed the trade deal between India and the UK. The deal has been initiated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the former UK PM, Boris Johnson.

Braverman opposed the trade deal, saying it would increase the influx of Indian immigrants to Britain. She said that many Indians stay in the UK even after the expiry of their expatriate visas.

Braverman also said that the British people did not vote to withdraw from Brexit because the British border should be opened to Indians in this way.

While Braverman opposed the deal, British PM Truss sees the deal as a way to revive the UK economy and wants to complete the deal as soon as possible. With the help of this deal, bilateral trade between the two countries is expected to double by 2030.

On the other hand, India is demanding concessions on visas for its workers and students going to study under this deal.

Widespread discontent among the members of the Indian community perhaps forced Braverman to retract her statements, as she claimed that Britain is prosperous today because of the Indian diaspora.

Speaking at a pre-Diwali event in London, Braverman invoked her ancestry as she said, “India is in my heart, it is my soul, it is in my blood. I am proud that my father’s ancestors and their family are in Goa and my mother is from Madras (Chennai).” “India is part of his legacy, I am Indian on both sides of my family,” she added.

In her short time as Home Secretary, Braverman made headlines for her outspoken comments on reducing net migration, affirming the controversial policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda, and defending the government’s Public Order Bill.

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