Simon Jenkins argues that the state of the Home Office is the real issue, rendering Braverman’s status irrelevant

If

you had hired as many different builders in the past five years as Britain has hired home secretaries, you would assume your house was deeply flawed. However, the current home secretary, Suella Braverman, who serves under Rishi Sunak, has managed to hold the position for 10 months amidst growing pressure to be sacked. It is difficult to imagine how a senior minister in a controversial department can effectively operate when there are doubts about her future. Without a doubt, this key role requires someone with authority and the ability to act. Unfortunately, the practice of rewarding loyalty over competence when appointing cabinet jobs has had disastrous consequences, not only in the Home Office but also in other departments like education and transport. It’s no wonder that the British government appears to be in disarray.

Suella Braverman’s appointment as home secretary, despite recently being forced to resign from the same post, may have been politically strategic if there was a coherent policy in place. However, when it comes to the pressing issue of immigration, there seems to be no plausible plan. Whoever conceived the ill-conceived “small boats week” event, treating it like a yachting festival, should face consequences. Not only was it tasteless, but it resulted in a series of mishaps, including a diseased prison barge, attacks on migrants’ lawyers, the death of six migrants, and a shocking record of 756 asylum seekers crossing the Channel in a single day. Meanwhile, Braverman continues to set unattainable targets and absurdly blames the Labour party for all immigration-related issues.

Contrary to popular belief, high immigration into Britain is not a new phenomenon. When adjusted for population and compared within the European context, asylum-seeker applications remain modest. What is truly new is the Home Office’s inability to efficiently process immigration cases. What should be a quick procedure resulting in swift admission of able-bodied workers into the British labor force now becomes a situation where over 173,000 potential refugees are left under house arrest, awaiting decisions. This number exceeds the population of ordinary UK prisoners by two-fold. This policy is perplexing, especially considering the chronic workforce needs of both the public and private sectors.

The reason behind this overwhelming number of cases cannot be attributed to Albanian or Kurdish gangsterism, French incompetence at Calais, overly charitable lifeboats, inadequate detention centers, or an abundance of unscrupulous lawyers. The solution does not lie in increasing detention ships or relocating people to other countries. While one long-term answer may involve ceasing invasions and destabilization of nations like Afghanistan and Iraq, a more immediate solution lies in addressing the Home Office’s clearly dysfunctional bureaucracy.

It is evident that the Home Office is unfit for its purpose. Its shortcomings are severely undermining Sunak’s attempt to salvage his government from electoral humiliation. Treating immigration as a weekly opportunity for headline-grabbing triumphs was a naive approach. This issue is highly emotive and politically sensitive, demanding de-escalation, international cooperation, and as much bipartisan collaboration as possible. Anything else only fuels right-wing extremism.

This is undoubtedly not Sunak’s finest hour. He has appointed an ineffective minister with a flawed policy to head a dysfunctional department. The first step towards rectifying the situation should be to address the issues within the Home Office.