Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has praised the UK’s “fantastic multicultural democracy” in what appears to be a snub to controversial comments made by the home secretary.
He also repeatedly declined to endorse Suella Braverman’s U.S. remarks that multiculturalism has “failed” in Europe and threatens social cohesion in the nation state.
In a round of regional media interviews just hours after Mrs. Braverman delivered a hardline speech on immigration in Washington DC, Mr. Sunak sidestepped questions on whether he supported her comments.
Asked by BBC East Midlands political editor Tony Roe if he agreed with Mrs. Braverman, the prime minister said: “I think that this is something that is incredible about this country, is that it is a fantastic multicultural democracy.
“We have done an incredible job of integrating people into society and one of the lovely things about getting the job I have, as the first person from my background to hold this job, that’s a wonderful thing, but it’s also not a big deal in our country.
“I think that speaks to the progress we’ve made over the years and how far we’ve come and something we should all be collectively incredibly proud of.”
The home secretary warned of what she sees as an “existential threat” of uncontrolled migration as she called for reform of international refugee rules.
She argued the “misguided dogma of multiculturalism” had “failed because it allowed people to come to our society and live parallel lives in it.”
Leadership Quest
Mr. Sunak—the first British PM of Indian heritage—faced repeated questioning on her remarks during a round of regional broadcast interviews ahead of next week’s Tory conference.Asked if the home secretary was wrong, Mr. Sunak said it is “important that everyone subscribes to British values” but that he believes “our country has done an incredibly good job of integrating people from lots of different backgrounds.”
Westminster observers suggested that Mrs. Braverman’s speech in Washington seemed like a pitch to the Tory right, in case Mr. Sunak leads the party to defeat at the next general election.
But Mrs. Braverman, whose parents migrated from Mauritius and Kenya, told the PA news agency that such suggestions were “slightly flippant” and insisted she was working “hand-in-hand” with Mr. Sunak.
Her remarks were criticised by some Conservative MPs, including Tobias Ellwood.
He told ITV’s Robert Peston they were “clearly designed for a particular audience and don’t do the prime minister any good.”
However, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer defended her multiculturalism fail claim telling Times Radio, “What she was talking about was the importance of integrating people who come here into our communities, and I think that’s a really valid point.”
It was put to Ms. Frazer that her great grandparents came to the UK as immigrants, she said: “They came because they were fleeing persecution in other countries and they integrated into our society.
“I think what she is talking about is the scale of immigration.”
A Labour spokesman described the prime minister’s response to Mrs. Braverman’s comments as “embarrassing.”
The spokesperson said: “Weak Rishi Sunak has allowed his home secretary to swan off around the world delivering messages to some of our closest allies that he’s not onboard with.
“It’s official, his premiership is beyond tired, it’s redundant. This is not just embarrassing. It’s bad for Britain and they should call an election now.”
Sexuality Claims
In another controversial remark on immigrants, Mrs. Braverman claimed that some were pretending to be gay to “game the system” and get “special treatment.”She made the comments to ITV News, insisting there are “many instances” where people purport to be homosexual to receive preferential treatment in asylum applications and that the situation is not “fair” or “right.”
She argued that discrimination for being gay or a woman should not be enough to qualify for international refugee protection, sparking a backlash from human rights activists, LGBT advocates, and prominent public figures such as singer Sir Elton John.
Sir Elton warned Mrs. Braverman risked “further legitimising hate and violence” against LGBT people and calling for “more compassion.”
Of those, 739 were granted asylum in Britain, while 285 had their claims refused.
The statistics for 2022 show an 89 percent increase in those applying to the British government for protection on sexuality grounds, compared to the previous year.
However, the claims account for just 2 percent of overall asylum applications.
Over 13,000 asylum claims on sexuality have been made since recording for the category of application began in 2015.
