The Home Secretary has been branded an attention-seeker by her predecessor in the first blue-on-blue spat of the Conservative party conference.
Suella Braverman faced a stinging attack from Dame Priti Patel over her controversial claim that multiculturalism has failed.
She was also urged by her fellow senior Tory to get on with tackling immigration rather than making speeches about it.
And in what will be seen as a further sign of the party’s sisterhood turning on each other, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch is expected to take a swipe at her Cabinet colleague’s focus on rhetoric over delivery.
Almost a week on, the fallout continues from Mrs Braverman’s speech to a think-tank in Washington DC in which she declared that multiculturalism is a ‘misguided dogma’ which allows incomers to ‘live parallel lives’.
Suella Braverman faced a stinging attack from Dame Priti Patel (pictured on Sunday) over her controversial claim that multiculturalism has failed
The Home Secretary (pictured last week) has been branded an attention-seeker by her predecessor in the first blue-on-blue spat of the Conservative party conference
In remarks widely seen as paving the way for a future leadership bid, the Home Secretary claimed uncontrolled immigration and the failure of new arrivals to integrate was a ‘toxic’ combination that could end up threatening the security of societies.
Asked on Sky News yesterday in what way the speech had been helpful to the PM, former Home Secretary Dame Priti replied: ‘Well, I think you have to ask her.
‘To me, this is very much making interventions, statements. But actually, I think we have to be realistic here that that’s not a substitute for delivery around changes to policy in government.
‘I don’t know what the intention was around that, it might just be get attention, to have the dividing lines that your previous commentators were mentioning as we go into the run-up to a general election.’
She added: ‘This side of a general election, if I might politely suggest it is about delivery and the Government will be judged on delivery. When you make pledges, statements and promises, you have to deliver.
‘But, of course, pledges are no substitute for action. And I think the public, they are sick about hearing about some of these issues and the failure to deliver. And I think it’s right that everyone puts a shoulder to the wheel and cracks on and does the work.’
In her speech, Mrs Braverman had insisted that despite being a child of immigrants from Kenya and Mauritius, she was under no obligation to be ‘pro-migration’.
But Dame Priti said: ‘We are the products of actual integration, multiculturalism, dynamic communities, people that love our country want to contribute to our country along with a hell of a lot of other people that have done exactly the same. And I think that’s something we should be proud of in our country.’
The bad blood between the pair is believed to stem from last year’s race to become Tory leader.
Mrs Braverman declared she would run even before Boris Johnson had announced he would step down, whereas Dame Priti eventually decided against standing amid a crowded field of contenders from the right wing of the party.
Last night, the Home Secretary declined to comment on the remarks by Dame Priti. However, her supporters point to recent polling suggesting the public backs her hardline stance on immigration.
Today, Mrs Braverman’s approach is likely to come under a more veiled attack from her Cabinet colleague Kemi Badenoch.
Today, Mrs Braverman’s approach is likely to come under a more veiled attack from her Cabinet colleague Kemi Badenoch (pictured last month). The Mail understands that the Trade Secretary will say in her speech to Tory conference that she is about delivery, not rhetoric, and will show how much she has got done in the job
The Mail understands that the Trade Secretary will say in her speech to Tory conference that she is about delivery, not rhetoric, and will show how much she has got done in the job. It will likely be seen as an attempt to further set out her stall for being a potential future Tory leader.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly also indicated he did not agree with Mrs Braverman’s analysis.
Asked by Times Radio yesterday if he thought Britain was a ‘failed state’ over multiculturalism, he replied: ‘Well, I think I the fact that Suella is in the role that she’s in, the Prime Minister’s in the role that he’s in, I and others are in these roles show that we are, as I say, almost uniquely in the world, have been brilliant at integrating people who have come to this country.
‘I think the really important point is that we continue to integrate and we do not allow this fragmentation. And I do sometimes worry that when people say multiculturalism, what they’re talking about is that fragmentation rather than coming together.’
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