Suella Braverman, who is known for her anti-migration stance as a home secretary has been reappointed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak when he was reshuffling the cabinet. This move was not appreciated by the opposition or the Indians.
The recruitment of Braverman into the previous PM Liz Truss's cabinet, had evoked a lot of fanfare in India because of her connection with the country through her parents. But her positions might not have been in favour of India.
Though her father has Goa-origin he moved to the UK from Kenya whereas her mother who has Tamil-origins migrated from Mauritius. Despite her own family’s history she stands against immigration.
How is the appointment of Suella Braverman going to impact India?
Rishi Sunak's UK government is reportedly in talks with India to increase the number of business visas granted to Indian nationals. This negotiation is a part of The Free Trade Agreement with India and has triggered a debate in Sunak's top team.
The discussion for the trade agreement between India and the UK began in January this year and was expected to have been finalised by this month, but that could not be completed due to the lack of consensus. The Free Trade Agreement between UK and India would slash or remove the customs duties on a wide variety of products traded between the two countries.
The debate is because of a comment made by Braverman earlier this month where she said she had reservations regarding increasing the number of business visas granted to Indian nationals. This was before her resignation from the Liz Truss cabinet, when in an interview with The Spectator Braverman said, "I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country -- the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants."
She further added that she has concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India as she believes that’s not what people voted for with Brexit. She also mentioned an agreement the UK government had with the Indian government last year to encourage and facilitate better cooperation but she feels that it has not necessarily worked very well.
Trade Minister, Greg Hands, when talking about the trade deals in the House on Wednesday, said that talks on the majority of the deals are complete but the business visas remain an area of "active negotiation".
For those not aware, a business visa is a travel authorization that will allow you to visit a country solely for the purpose of business activities. These visas do not include work or employment. The trade minister had also said that increasing the number of temporary business visas for Indians was different from permanent migration. These visas are related to business and not for permanent settlement.
But as a staunch Brexit supporter, Braverman is known to hold strong views on immigration. This became more obvious when she blamed the 'uncontrolled migration' for the riots that broke out in Leicester after a cricket match between India and Pakistan last month.
She said, "A melting pot of cultures and a beacon of religious harmony. But even there, riots and civil disorder have taken place because of failures to integrate large numbers of newcomers. Such conflict has no place in the UK." She also added that it is not racist to control these borders.
She has even commented that the way to build a high-skilled and high-wage economy is by encouraging businesses to invest in capital and domestic labour and not by relying wholly on low-skilled foreign workers.
What did Rishi Sunak say?
But this week, when she was reappointed to the same position by Sunak, he received severe criticism. Many questioned him for appointing a leader who resigned due to a mistake that led to security breach, while others questioned her stance on migration control. In his response, he said that Braverman made an error of judgement but she recognised and accepted her mistake. He also added that she will be focused on cracking down on criminals and protecting the borders.
