Foyle MP slams Home Secretary’s ‘aggressive ignorance’

Foyle MP Colum Eastwood has called for the removal of the British Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

Ms Braverman used Northern Ireland as a point of comparison as she characterised pro-Palestinian demonstrations planned for the UK on Armistice Day as “hate marches”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described the planned protests as “disrespectful” while other senior Tories have pressured the Metropolitan Police to ban the demonstration.

Writing in The Times, Mrs Braverman said “hate marchers” intend to use the Armistice Day protest as a “show of strength”.

The Home Secretary also characterised alleged reports that organisers of Saturday’s march were linked to Hamas as “disturbingly reminiscent of Ulster”.

Mrs Braverman said: “I do not believe that these marches are merely a cry for help for Gaza.

“They are an assertion of primacy by certain groups — particularly Islamists — of the kind we are more used to seeing in Northern Ireland.

“Also disturbingly reminiscent of Ulster are the reports that some of Saturday’s march group organisers have links to terrorist groups, including Hamas.”

The SDLP leader said the Home Secretary’s comments display an ‘aggressive ignorance’ that makes her unfit for the office she holds.

Mr Eastwood described the article in The Times as ‘a pound shop Enoch Powell piece’. 

He said: “I have worked with British Home Secretaries with whom I have the most fundamental political differences, people who I disagree with on virtually every issue imaginable, but I haven’t doubted that in spite of our differences they were motivated by what they thought was right. I honestly can’t say the same for Suella Braverman. 

“The Home Secretary’s comments in an article in The Times today are so far removed from reality that it is impossible to come to any determination other than she is deliberately stoking division to bolster her own brand among the Conservative Party’s right wing. It’s honestly like reading a pound shop Enoch Powell piece.

“The comments comparing the proposed Armistice Day protests against the appalling bombardment of civilians in Gaza with the marching tradition in Northern Ireland are an exercise in what can only be described as aggressive ignorance. Ignorance of the conditions faced by the civilian population in Gaza, ignorance of the role of the Met police, ignorance of the complex history and traditions of marching and protest in Northern Ireland. She has managed to offend just about everyone - no mean feat in a divided society.

“The comments are far below the standard that should be expected from a senior government Minister. The only appropriate action now is her removal from office but given the systemic weakness of this government, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she remained.”