Why so much fuss over Stella Braverman?

[lastminutepanicking]

I’m just wondering who on earth cares? Can’t understand why this is such big news.

Absolutely spot on. It’s so depressing.

Eh?

Clearly not.

The chap who got his wife to take the points for him (Chris Hune) was a cabinet minister who was jailed for eight months for perverting the course of justice.

I agree that Braverman's "crime" is not as serious (it's not an actual crime) but she has broken the ministerial code, which means she should resign. As has been said above, it's a clear abuse of power.

because the very least we should be able to expect from members of our ruling party is that they at least try to keep within the boundaries of the law

That sounds reasonable to me.

It's the hysterical media, like Boris and the cake all over again.

She asked if she could do the speeding course as a 1 to 1, was told no so paid the fine. It is such a non story

Bloody hell I do think sometimes there should be a test you have to take before you vote.* Terrifying that my vote counts exactly the same as people who have no idea what the Home Secretary is called or anything about her politics or even what the hell is going on at the moment. For the love of God please go and inform yourselves at least a little before you put a mark in a box in the next election.

*said with tongue firmly in cheek - I’m aware of how ethically problematic this would be…

How on earth could she have taken a speeding awareness course with members of the public. There would be risks around security, not to mention her being recorded / taped. She should have the choice to do the speed awareness course the same as anybody else, but for the reasons above she had no choice but to take the points instead.

@Janiie - that missed the bit that was wrong. She can do a one on one course, but she cannot use civil servants to arrange it or work out how it is done.

Suella Braverman needed a lawyer. Apparently being one herself wasn't enough to work out what the law was or the rules that apply to her as a Minister.

Even other Tory MPs are speaking out against her. This was tweeted on 22nd April by William Wragg MP..…

“This evening, having kept quiet for a while, I was struck by the lamentable hopelessness of the Home Secretary, remembering particularly her first week or so as a Member of Parliament
^^
My clearest recollection of our Home Secretary’s legal acumen came from day one as an MP. We had a presentation from @ipsaUK
^^
Her question to @ipsaUK concerned whether a speeding ticket incurred during the course of parliamentary duties could be claimed on expenses. Rather embarrassed, the representatives from @ipsaUK said no.
^^
Thank goodness our Nation has been blessed with such a fine Attorney General and Home Secretary. Carry On! 🇬🇧”

…..So not only is she lacking in morals and empathy, she’s incompetent too.

so no chance of her ever doing an MP surgery if she can’t be around the public… bit of a shame for her constituents. I didn’t realise we’d got to the point where cabinet members literally could not interact with the public for their own safety.

Because she shouldn't think she is above the law & should take her punishment the same as anyone else. Can you imagine if you or I asked for a 1:1 speed awarement course? We would get told no way, why should it be different for her just because she is Home Secretary.

Given the vile memes that were created of her laughing in front of Auschwitz (her husband is Jewish) I can see why she might want to enquire if there’s an alternative to attending a speed awareness course with two dozen or so people. It has subsequently been confirmed that yes one on one speed awareness courses are available to high profile individuals so I can’t see why simply enquiring about this from her staff is such a big deal.

To people with miserably low expectations of their Government I imagine it is a non story. Some of us expect better.

Tbh it's such a low level legal error re the law, the Ministerial code and the greed "put my fine on exoenses" that she seems incurably dim witted for a barrister.

She should really go for being incompetent

She's the Home Secretary, she shouldn't have been speeding in the first place.

It wasn't an in-person course either, it was over Zoom/Teams so security risk would have been minimal. She just didn't want people to know she'd been caught speeding.

Typical Tory do as I say, not what I do.

And thirdly, rather than just admit she shouldn’t have done it, she maintains that she did no wrong. It’s disappointing she is so severely lacking in integrity.

@Janiie she asked her civil servants to intervene to make it happen - she didn’t sort it herself! These are public servants. I’m a civil servant - I’m not employed to dig my boss out of shit she got into in her private life FFS 🙄.

She also got one of her senior civil servants to lie about the fact that she had even been caught in the first place.

Its very much not a fucking non story 🙄🤬🤦‍♀️.

'And thirdly, rather than just admit she shouldn’t have done it, she maintains that she did no wrong. It’s disappointing she is so severely lacking in integrity.'

A speeding fine. It wasn't armed robbery y'know. Think most folk who have been caught by a speed camera still manage to have a bit of integrity. How desperate are labour to make this out to be such a drama.

She didn’t ask anyone to “intervene”, she simply asked her staff whether it was possible to do a one on one course. When she was told they couldn’t help, she elected to pay the fine and take the points.

It's mostly because she's not white.

It's hardly the same is it. At the very least the phones whipped out to record a public figure under these circumstances. Which isn't on. But it would happen.

Understandably I think MPs need to be careful around security and how they manage that, particularly after cases like David Amess. There are very real risks and the vitriol and hatred towards SB is clearly huge.

This!

Unclench for goodness sake.

If she has to go because as home sec she is supposed to uphold high moral standards they surely the Archbishop of Canterbury needs to go too?

Tbh of she was photographed doing a speeding course I think that would be… fine?