Reform has criticised Suella Braverman for the Afghan leak and previously said she was “too toxic” for the party’s image
Rael Braverman, Suella Braverman’s husband, announced he had left Reform UK “effective immediately” yesterday.
Rael defected from the Conservative Party to Reform back in December, stating at the time that it was “nice to believe in something again”. But that didn’t last long.
His exit follows comments from a Reform source earlier this week claiming Suella wouldn’t be welcome in the party, stating she is “not a team player” and that she and Liz Truss would be “too toxic” for the party’s image. “Her record shows she is just too disruptive,” the source added.
But that doesn’t seem to be what pushed Rael out. The tipping point came when Reform’s Zia Yusuf claimed Suella, who was Home Secretary at the time, was aware of a £7 billion “cover-up” related to the Afghan data breach.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Yusuf said: “The British government learnt of the data leak in August 2023.
“24,000 Afghans secretly granted asylum, costing British taxpayers up to £7bn. The government covered it up. Who was in government? Home Secretary: Suella Braverman. Immigration minister: Robert Jenrick.”
Suella issued a statement yesterday saying she had no responsibility for officials in the Ministry of Defence and stating that the court’s injunction prevented her from speaking publicly about the matter.
Yusuf has since accused Jenrick of lying when he said he wasn’t able to speak out due to the super-injunction.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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