Rishi Sunak says he has no regrets over the appointment of Suella Braverman as home secretary six days after she resigned from the same job for misconduct.
The prime minister said his cabinet minister had “taken accountability” by resigning before he reappointed her to the role less than a week later.
He has come under increasing pressure over the decision, amid opposition accusation he appointed someone unfit for the job to win her support in the brief Tory leadership election.
Asked whether he regretted the appointment, he told broadcasters on a visit to a south London hospital: “No, as I have said, she’s accepted her mistake and learned from it, and I’m confident of that.”
Mr Sunak also declined to deny suggestions that officials had warned him against reappointing Ms Braverman.
He said she “raised” the issue with him before he gave her the job, which oversees the UK’s borders, police, and counter-terrorism, as well as the criminal law.
Asked about the reports while speaking to broadcasters at Croydon University Hospital, he said:
“The home secretary has acknowledged the mistake, she’s recognised she made a mistake, she’s taken accountability for that and that’s the right thing.
“Now, as I said in Parliament earlier this week, she raised this topic with me when I discussed reappointing her as home secretary and I’m confident that she’s learned from her mistake.”
Ms Braverman stepped down from the role under prime minister Liz Truss after it emerged she had emailed sensitive documents from her personal email address.
The documents reportedly went to a backbench Tory MP and a person who the home secretary believe was his wife, but who was actually a parliamentary assistant for another MP, who raised the alarm about the leak.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Labour leader Keir Starmer accused Mr Sunak of doing a “grubby deal” in exchange for backing him against rival Penny Mordaunt.
“I’ve been director of public prosecutions, I know how important it is for the home secretary to be trusted because others have to share documents with her,” he told broadcasters.
“To be sacked last week for a breach of security and now be put back in place as home secretary is an act of weakness from the prime minister.
“He should sack her – that would be the strong thing to do.”
Opposition Liberal Democrat chief Ed Davey this week claimed Ms Braverman had been given the name “Leaky Sue” by officials on Whitehall on account of her approach to data security.
It was also reported earlier this week that she had been probed in January as part of a Cabinet Office leak inquiry, which was inconclusive.
In her resignation letter, Ms Braverman said she had “rapidly reported” her “mistake” through the official channels, though the Sunday Times newspaper reported that it was in fact Simon Case, the head of the civil service, who had raised the concerns.
Downing Street has since denied reports that top civil servant Mr Case was “livid” about the return of Ms Braverman to the cabinet after just six days.
