Ben Wallace in explosive cabinet row with Suella Braverman over Home Secretary’s demand for troops to be drafted in to fill Border Force gaps – days before announcing he won’t stand as an MP at the next election
- The Defence Secretary announced last night he was ‘done’ with politics
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has announced that he will leave the Government when Rishi Sunak reshuffles his Cabinet, after telling friends he is ‘done’ with politics.
Mr Wallace, who was bruised by the decision of US President Joe Biden to block him from the job of the next Secretary-General of Nato, announced that he would not be standing again at the next Election.
Although his constituency of Wyre and Preston North is being dissolved under boundary changes, he is said to have turned down the chance to switch to at least five other safe seats.
Downing Street fears that Mr Wallace will be part of a stampede of senior Tory figures quitting politics for the private sector rather than languish on the backbenches in Opposition.
Mr Wallace had hoped to delay his announcement until after the summer, but his hand was forced by briefings into Saturday’s papers about his expected departure.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has announced that he will leave the Government when Rishi Sunak reshuffles his Cabinet following an explosive row with Home Secretary Suella Braverman
Mr Wallace was bruised by the decision of US President Joe Biden to block him from the job of the next Secretary-General of Nato
He said last night: ‘I’m not standing next time. I went into politics in the Scottish Parliament in 1999. That’s 24 years. I’ve spent well over seven years with three phones by my bed.’
But he has clearly decided to go out fighting – by becoming embroiled in an explosive row with Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
Mr Wallace has refused the Home Secretary’s request for 750 troops to be deployed to plug gaps in the UK’s Border Force – claiming that Ms Braverman should have made contingency plans for the shortages, rather than expecting him to act as a last-minute stop-gap.
Ms Braverman said that unless 750 members of the Armed Forces were transferred from other duties to help man immigration posts to cover for striking or absent Border Force officers, then British travellers could face long queues at entry points for months.
However, a source said: ‘The Home Secretary must not be allowed to always rely on our hard-working Armed Forces to be there to mop up for Home Office incompetence. If she was so worried, she should have planned ahead.’
A Home Office source said last night: ‘We have cancelled Border Force leave, recruited more staff and moved as many as we can from other roles to fill gaps.
‘But the Defence Secretary has halved the number of troops he’s willing to offer to help backfill jobs compared with the last round of strikes at Christmas when our troops were given a lot of credit for their sterling work and he even turned up for a photo op.
‘Now an impending summer of chaos seems to be of little concern – but it is for the millions of people trying to use our airports. It’s all so petty.’
Mr Wallace has refused the Home Secretary’s request for 750 troops to be deployed to plug gaps in the UK’s Border Force
It is understood Mr Wallace argued that, given the pressure on the Armed Forces, he would be able to spare just 250 service personnel, with the only alternative being to cancel leave – which he was reluctant to do.
A Government spokesperson said: ‘The Ministry of Defence have accepted a Military Aid to the Civil Authorities request from the Home Office, to provide support to Border Force in the event of staff industrial action.’
