How Suella Braverman continues to undermine Rishi Sunak’s attempts to rebuild trust with voters - Andrew Vine

It would have been embarrassing for Ms Braverman, given that she is responsible for upholding law and order, but far less of a problem than she has created for the Government.

Instead of an uncomfortable few minutes at the dispatch box, the Home Secretary has undermined Rishi Sunak’s pledge that his Government will be one of integrity and honesty.

Impressions matter, and whether Ms Braverman realises it or not, she has caused immense damage to her party in the eyes of voters.

Her attempt to hush up the offence by asking civil servants to arrange a private speed awareness course looks furtive and underhand.

The fact that Ms Braverman is a barrister and has therefore built a career involving the proper administration of justice only makes it appear worse, because she was clearly trying to game the system.

Confirmation of that came from lawyer Nick Freeman, also known as Mr Loophole for his skill in securing acquittals for his clients on legal technicalities, who said that celebrities caught speeding often secured one-to-one courses.

Doubtless he’s right, but Ms Braverman isn’t an actor or pop star keen to avoid damage to their wholesome public image.

She’s the holder of one of the four great offices of state. She’s accountable, and has to be seen to be straightforward in order to command the confidence of the public and her colleagues.

How much confidence she commands from either was already open to question, because her record in office is less than glowing.

She lost the job of Home Secretary once over breaching the ministerial code by sending official documents in a private email.

Her calling the influx of migrants across the Channel an “invasion” was crass, and sternly telling the country that “illegal migration is out of control” invited ridicule because her own party has been in office for the past 13 years, during which arrivals have soared.

In two days’ time, the latest figures on migration are due to be published and likely to show the numbers of people entering Britain are at a record high, raising new questions about Ms Braverman’s effectiveness.

Despite that, last week she was plainly pitching for the Tory leadership with a speech to the right-wing Nat Con conference in London.

Ms Braverman is obviously not short of self-confidence and personal ambition. Mr Sunak will need to ask himself if that is matched by ability, and whether she can enhance his Government’s standing with the public, or further diminish it.

Currently, she’s a gift to Labour, which can attack not only Ms Braverman but Mr Sunak for appointing her.

And to the electorate, she’s become emblematic of the internal divisions in the Conservatives as well as the fault lines within the Government.

Mr Sunak is doing his best to run an efficient and competent administration, and his personal approval ratings with the public show he is being given credit for that. But he must feel that for every step forward he takes, the actions of his own party force him backwards by two steps.

A Home Secretary trying to sweep law-breaking under the carpet comes after his Justice Secretary, Dominic Raab, resigned after an inquiry found that he had bullied civil servants.

All the while, there is an endless background noise from the Tory right on wearyingly familiar lines about betrayal of Brexit and the Government’s policies being too left-leaning. This leaves the Prime Minister endlessly struggling to hold together a fractious and divided Parliamentary party. But by trying to keep the various factions happy, he appears to be pleasing none of them.

Ms Braverman only makes his problems worse. If Mr Sunak keeps her in post, he’ll be bashed over the head about it every time he stands up to address the Commons. If he gets rid of her, he’ll get bashed about that as well, and she’ll spend her time on the backbenches plotting to usurp him.