Andrew Marr: Sunak has taken a big hit bringing back Suella Braverman but he owes her - big time

26 October 2022, 18:23 | Updated: 26 October 2022, 18:24

Rishi Sunak has taken a big hit by bringing back Suella Braverman as Home Secretary but he owes her big time, Andrew Marr has said.

Opening Tonight with Andrew Marr, the presenter reflected on Mr Sunak's first Prime Minister's Questions since becoming leader and the latest appointments from his Cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday.

"So, another new Prime Minister, and today another first Prime Minister's Questions, in this case for Rishi Sunak," Andrew said.

"A lot of it was the same old, same old - Sunak showing that he can play that traditional tune, 'aren't we great, aren’t Labour a shower'; and Keir Starmer responding with the equally traditional 'aren't those Tories completely disgusting?' songbook. Cheering. Shouting. A certain amount of kicking the furniture.

"This is the kind of thing that makes everyone at Westminster very happy.

"Normal folk go ten-pin bowling, or to the football, or the theatre or the pub to get a warm glow as the nights draw in.

"MPs go to Prime Minister's Questions each week for pretty much the same reason. Doesn't really change anything. But they love it. Bless.

"And actually, this time, it was friendlier than usual - opposition MPs as well as Tories welcomed Britain's first Asian-heritage Prime Minister.

"And, wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, we learnt stuff.

"First, that Sunak can be as fiery as any previous leader."

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'Rishi owes Suella big time!'

Andrew continued: "But elsewhere, again and again he talked about being compassionate and looking after the vulnerable.

"He was giving, I thought, the clear impression that he will be uprating benefits in line with inflation, and won't be making cuts that hit the poorest.

"He also dodged a question from Starmer about taxing non-doms.

"So here's what I think is going on. I think Sunak is already looking in two directions - doing everything he can can to shore up his leadership of the Tory party and planning, even now, for the next election.

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"In terms of Tory Party, management he is taking a big hit in bringing back Suella Braverman as Home Secretary only six days after she had to resign for breaching ministerial rules.

"Why? Because when Sunak was campaigning to become leader, he needed a sense of unstoppable momentum and the moment that really happened was when Braverman came out to back him.

"Suddenly, a Sunak premiership seemed inevitable. If she hadn't done that, Boris Johnson might well have tried to take his case to the membership and we might be about to see him back as Prime Minister by the end of this week. So Rishi owes Suella, big time.

"Just as important she has become, for the time being, the favourite warrior queen of the Tory right.

"However angry the defeated supporters of Liz truss and Johnson might be, it's very hard for them to move against Sunak with Braverman in his Cabinet.

"Same goes, by the way for James Cleverly at the Foreign Office. So that's the party.

"What about the coming fight with Labour?

"Sunak knows that Starmer wants to portray him as the super-rich leader of an out of touch party, which crashed the economy and doesn't care about ordinary people.

"Somehow, he has to try to deflect that narrative.

"Reading between the lines during Prime Minister's Questions, it felt to me as if Sunak’s going try to do it by cutting welfare and services by less than people expect and perhaps by raising taxes, including - who knows - on non-Doms like his own wife.

"We’ll see, but that would be a bold enough coup to ruin some obvious Labour attack lines. 

"A couple of other points from Prime Minister's Questions - a bit cheeky perhaps, but a tiny bit of  Marr advice for both leaders.

"Now, Rishi Sunak keeps referring back to to the fact that Starmer served loyally under Jeremy Corbyn - or the member for North Islington as he calls him.

"This gets Tory MPs whooping but it won't work in the real world. Old hat. Corbyn’s been kicked out of Starmer’s party. And if the accusation is that Starmer has moved Labour away from hard left policies towards the centre, floating voters won’t be outraged; they’ll be delighted.

"But Starmer, meanwhile, now needs to drop his incessant calls for a general election. Yes, that's got a certain logic. Yes, lots of folk want an election. But until Tory MPs decide to commit political suicide it just isn't going to happen.

"And if you keep vainly calling for something that won't happen, quite soon you sound irrelevant.

"So there's my advice. And it's all completely free."