In her opening address to department staff last Wednesday, Suella Braverman said a top priority would be to cut off all Channel crossings. He also asked all staff to watch “junk TV” to help their “mental wellbeing”, a source said, citing Channel 4’s Married at First Sight and First Dates as well as Love Island in particular. The latest series of the ITV2 show sparked thousands of complaints about alleged misogynistic behaviour. Last month, the charity Women’s Aid highlighted issues such as bullying and coercive control. Sources familiar with Braverman’s management revealed that she told them: “It’s important for people to look after their own well-being. The best antidote [for work-related stress] it’s useless television.” Britain’s new Home Secretary Suella Braverman. Photo: Tolga Akmen/EPA As for the boat crossings, immigration experts say they are virtually impossible to stop as the government refuses to offer adequate alternative safe routes to the UK. Last weekend alone another 45 boats arrived in the UK with 2,120 asylum seekers, with 8,000 crossing in August, the highest monthly total on record. “To suggest he can stop all boat crossings is pie in the sky – not good,” said a civil service source. Ending the arrival of small boats was a key goal of Braverman’s predecessor, Priti Patel, with the issue becoming a political drain as each attempt to deal with the crisis resulted in a growing number of crossings. During her speech last week, Braverman – who is expected to adopt an even more hard-line agenda than Patel – also sparked widespread discontent from thousands of Home Office staff questioning their work practices. By telling them to return to the office, the home secretary reignited the row sparked by Jacob Rees-Mogg, who had previously ordered civil servants back to their desks to ensure government offices were at “full capacity”. Sources added that Braverman, the former attorney general, told them she wanted “people to show up and be in the office, [I’m a] big fan of personal work and teamwork. I want to see people face to face.” Her intervention did not go down well with the PCS union, which represents civil servants, including 14,000 Home Office and Border Force staff. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said the last home secretary needed to learn and listen from experienced staff rather than imposing her ideals on the workforce. He said: “Ordering our members back to office shows a complete lack of awareness and understanding of what Home Office staff have been doing for the last two and a half years. Most Border Force and passport office staff have been in the workplace regularly since the start of the pandemic and throughout the lockdowns across the country. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. “For those staff who have adapted to work from home because the Home Office required them to during the pandemic, they are working efficiently and productively at home and have been working hybrid between office and home for months. To now imply that this arrangement is not good, without any understanding, is not a good start for the new home secretary. “Our members, not her, are the ones with the expertise here. It would be better to listen to them about their ways of working and see how they can best implement her policies. One of the ways he could win people over would be to stop the government’s planned 91,000 job cuts and office closures which will have a huge negative impact on the Home Office.” During her speech, Braverman outlined other priorities, including tackling anti-social behaviour, domestic violence, reducing murder rates and “road safety”. He also pledged to follow through on Boris Johnson’s key pledge to put 20,000 new police officers on the streets, with the government about halfway to the target by 2023. However, it is about small boat crossings that sources say will likely define her tenure as home secretary, as it did with Patel. “Stop people dying and being at the mercy of people smugglers. We have to take a firm stand,” he told staff. A Home Office source said Braverman addressed her new colleagues in a short speech to set out her priorities and added that roles where appropriate had the option of flexible working.
