FirstFT: Braverman fights for his political life

UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman is fight for his political life while she is accused of violating the law on the treatment of asylum seekers by the government.

Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, is under increasing pressure to fire Braverman, who earlier admitted she used her personal email seven times to handle documents relating to government business.

Braverman is under crisis scrutiny at an immigration processing center in Manston in Kent, where conditions were described as ‘miserable’ last week by Chief Border Inspector David Neal and immigration.

Yesterday, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told Braverman in the House of Commons that her refusal to heed legal advice over the prolonged detention of migrants in Manston had led to dangerous overcrowding and outbreaks , especially diphtheria.

Cooper suggested the Home Secretary’s refusal to adopt contingency plans to reduce overcrowding, including at a meeting on October 19 – the same day she admitted to misusing her e- private mail for government business – amounted to knowingly “breaking the law”.

• Political espionage: Calls for an investigation grow after allegations that a personal phone used by Liz Truss when she was Foreign Secretary was hacked by foreign agents suspected of working for Russia.

Thank you for reading FirstFT Europe/Africa. Here’s the rest of the news — Gary

Five other stories in the news

1. Banks set to hold $12.7 billion in Twitter debt through 2023 Lenders who backed Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter have admitted they would stuck holding the debt on their books for months or more, possibly incurring huge losses on the financial package, while waiting for the billionaire to unveil a clearer business plan.

• Dorsey endorsement: In his latest show of support for Musk’s takeover, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey rolled all his bet in private enterprise.

2. Britishvolt on the brink after government rejects bailout appeal The battery start in the UK has been on the verge of collapse yesterday after ministers rejected a request for emergency funding and the struggling company made a last-ditch effort to secure a private bailout to avoid bankruptcy. The company had planned to develop a £3.8 billion gigafactory in the North East of England.

3. EY UK partner salary hits £803,000 The average salary of UK partners in the Big 4 firm has reached a record thanks to the rapid growth of its consultancy business. EY’s UK arm reported a 17% rise in sales to £3.2bn for the year to June, driven by a 33% increase in the consultancy division, whose sales rose reached £888 million.

4. Carlyle seeks $700 million for insurers’ nonpayment for plane seizures Aircraft leasing operator owned by Carlyle Group claims more than 30 insurers and reinsurers failed to pay for aircraft seizures by Russian airlines. Carlyle Aviation Partners is one of many lessors struggling to recover planes leased from Russian airlines before Moscow invaded Ukraine in February.

5. Biden floats an exceptional tax on oil companies The US President urged Congress to punish oil companies with higher taxes unless they increase production to lower prices at the pump. His comments come days after oil and gas producers announced huge profits and a week before a crucial midterm election.

The day ahead

Economic data In the United Kingdom, the Nationwide Building Society publishes its house price index for the month of October.

Israel Voters go to the polls to Fifth election in Israel in less than four years. Leading a right-wing bloc, Benjamin Netanyahu hopes to overcome a slight deficit in the polls to win a majority in the Knesset and return as the country’s prime minister.

Denmark Danes too go to the polls in a general election where the ruling Social Democrats urge voters to look past their botched mink slaughter at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and trust them to lead the country through a deteriorating security situation and a cost of living crisis.

Earnings Companies reporting third-quarter profits include Airbnb, BP, Electronic Arts, Mondelez, Nippon Steel, Pfizer, Saudi Aramco, Sony, Thomson Reuters, Toyota and Uber.

What else we read

Germany grapples with dependence on China If the war in Ukraine revealed the madness of Germany’s decades-long reliance on Russian gas, Berlin is about to pay a bigger bill for its an even deeper dependence on China. The country has long been one of the largest markets for German machinery, chemicals and cars. Some fear that this poses a much greater threat to German long-term security than Russia.

Will Sisi take the Egyptian economy out of the hands of the army? Egypt’s woes underscored the vulnerability of poorer countries to geopolitical events after the war in Ukraine triggered capital flight from emerging markets. But Egyptian economists and businessmen say there are more fundamental issues at stake, arguing that the global crisis has amplified the fragility of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s state economic model.

Nuclear threats to the world Broadly speaking, there are four main scenarios to consider: nuclear normalization, nuclear blackmail, avoidance of war and Armageddon, writes Gideon Rachman. It is not difficult to see how the use of a Russian nuclear weapon could escalate into all-out nuclear war.

Lula keeps investors guessing about his economic vision After snatching a narrow victory in the Brazilian presidential election, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva must now persuade investors and financial markets. A light political campaign and indications that he might abandon Jair Bolsonaro’s pro-market model and return the state to a bigger role in the economy have left investors guessing.

Explanation: difficult options for Northern Ireland In the quarter century since the end of the ‘Troubles’ and the Good Friday Agreement laid the foundations for power sharing between the unionist and nationalist communities in Northern Ireland, the devolved executive has been paralyzed almost as often as he functioned. What are the options to restore it now?

food drink

British comedian Ahir Shah leaves us inside his fantastic dinner, complete with the cast of Gracious goodness meGujarati cuisine and mango lassis.