Downing Street fail to defend Home Secretary over migrant rhetoric

Downing Street has failed to defend Home Secretary Suella Braverman in the aftermath of the row over her migrant “invasion” comments made in front of a Holocaust survivor.

A video published online over the weekend showed 83-year-old Joan Salter MBE raising objections to the rhetoric used by Braverman, which the campaigner said was similar to that used by the Nazis.

The comments were made during a meeting in her Fareham constituency on Friday, and subsequently circulated online by theFreedom From Torture charity.

Asked twice if Rishi Sunak’s agreed with Braverman’s language, the Prime Minster’s spokesperson said: “The Home Office put out a statement on this. I don’t have anything to add to that.”

The spokesperson added:”You’ll know the UK’s record on providing a safe haven to tens of thousands of people, whether it’s people from Afghanistan or other countries and we continue to be proud of that record.”

The Home Office had called for the video to removed by the charity on Saturday, arguing that it had misrepresented Braverman’s words.

But a full version of the exchange with Salter was then published online.

It showed that Braverman had referred to her own family’s experience of fleeing life in Kenya, but also showed she said she would not apologise for using words like “invasion” when discussing migration.