Suella Braverman's homeless tents crackdown scrapped

Suella Braverman as home secretary wanted to crackdown on the use of tents by homeless people. Credit: PA

Suella Braverman's plan to crackdown on the use of tents by homeless people has been scrapped after she was sacked as home secretary by Rishi Sunak.

The former home secretary, who faced intense backlash for saying homelessness is a “lifestyle choice”, had been planning to introduce a ban on charities handing out tents to rough sleepers, before she was ousted from Cabinet.

She wanted legal changes to stop “those who cause nuisance and distress to other people by pitching tents in public spaces” and the PM had previously refused to rule this out.

“Unless we step in now to stop this," Mrs Braverman said, "British cities will go the way of places in the US like San Francisco and Los Angeles”.

But after removing her in a major Cabinet reshuffle, Downing Street said those plans will not be included in the new Criminal Justice Bill or other legislation.

The prime minister's spokesperson added that he was "not aware of any plans for its introduction elsewhere".

Mr Sunak would not condemn Mrs Braverman's controversial remarks but would also not repeat them when asked last Wednesday.

Sacked home secretary Suella Braverman voted against the Rwanda Bill at third reading Credit: Phil Noble/PA

By Friday he was under extreme pressure to sack her over separate remarks, criticising the Metropolitan Police for allowing pro-Palestinian protests to go ahead on Armistice Day.

She accused the force of bias over the way it policed protests, suggesting it was choosing to crack down on right-wing protests but not left-wing demonstrations.

Despite her comments, Downing Street told reporters the PM had "full confidence" in her.

Asked why it had said this while Mr Sunak was already planning to sack her, his spokesman said: “The prime minister continued to work closely with the former home secretary, not least on the issue of small boats.

“Obviously he subsequently took a decision to change his team, that is his prerogative and I think he set out some of the rationale I think at the top of Cabinet.”

It was “not unusual for the prime minister to carry out reshuffles from time to time”.

Opening the first meeting of his new-look Cabinet on Tuesday, Mr Sunak said he now had a “strong and united team”.

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