SACKED UK home secretary Suella Braverman has been accused of seeking to advance her own Tory leadership ambitions by belatedly calling out Rishi Sunak's failure to honour a pledge to deliver the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.
Ms Braverman made the claim in an open letter to the prime minister on Tuesday, a day after she was replaced as home secretary in a cabinet reshuffle.
Claiming her support for Mr Sunak was "pivotal" in him securing the Tory leadership, she accused the prime minister of reneging on a commitment to deliver the controversial legislation that would have overridden parts of the protocol, risking legal action by the EU.
The contentious bill was dropped earlier this year when the EU and UK government announced the breakthrough Windsor Framework deal.
In her scathing letter, Ms Braverman said she agreed to back Mr Sunak, and in the process secure him support from the Tory right, after he gave "firm assurances you gave me on key policy priorities".
She said these included a vow from Mr Sunak to "deliver the Northern Ireland Protocol and Retained EU Law Bills in their then existing form and timetable", among other "clear terms" she had set out ahead of his securing the leadership.
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She wrote: "I trusted you. It is generally agreed that my support was a pivotal factor in winning the leadership contest and thus enabling you to become prime minister."
Ms Braverman said being fired was "disappointing" but "for the best" as she aimed a series of blows at Mr Sunak.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the former home secretary didn't care about Northern Ireland and was attempting to further her leadership ambitions.
"Anyone surprised that a recently sacked Tory minister is now trying to use the Northern Ireland Protocol to advance their own leadership ambitions really hasn’t been paying attention over the last seven years," the Foyle MP said.
“Suella Braverman doesn’t care about this place – all she cares about is replacing Rishi Sunk. The best thing we can do is replace them both with a Labour administration."
Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry described Ms Braverman's letter as "bitter and twisted".
"It is farcical for her to place any stock in the NI Protocol Bill – it was a never a serious piece of legislation," he said.
"It amounted to a breach of international law and solved nothing. If anything it delayed the agreement of the Windsor Framework."
DUP MP Sammy Wilson said: "She really has blown the lid off the image that there is of Sunak, the image of a man who wanted to get things done, of a decent man who was honourable and everything else.
"I mean, it's quite clear promises were made and then because it suited him to keep pals with the EU, Northern Ireland gets thrown under the bus and the promises are just forgotten."
