New Home Office Secretary instructs staff to watch Love Island

Suella Braverman’s speech to Home Office officials

As a way to introduce herself to staff, the new Home Office Secretary gave an inaugural speech to departmental officials where she outlined her priorities including:

• Banning all small boats crossing the English Channel
• Stopping work from home arrangements and ordering all staff to return to the office
• Tackling antisocial behavior and domestic violence
• Reducing murder rates and “making the streets safer”

Anticipating that some departmental staff may have trouble with her hardline agenda, Braverman instructed staff to make sure to take care of their mental wellbeing by watching television programs such as Married at First Sight, First Dates, and Love Island to combat work-related stress.

Banning illegal boat crossings

Braverman’s vow to ban all boat crossings in the Channel especially confused both immigration experts and officials who find the request to be futile, especially if no sufficient alternative travel methods were made available to asylum seekers.

Despite the efforts of the former Secretary of the Home Office, Priti Patel, the UK saw a record 8,000 individuals crossing the Channel by small boats in August 2022.

The response by the Home Office staff

Braverman’s new demands for Home Office staff have left many frustrated and discontent, especially when returning all staff who work remotely from home back to the work office. Unless a staff member qualifies for the option of flexible working, all remote working will cease.

Mark Serwotka, the leader of the PCS union (which represents 14,000 Home Office and Border Force staff) advised the new Home Office Secretary to reconsider stating that Braverman “would be better advised listening to [Home Office staff] about ways of working and to see how they can best implement her policies.”

Serwotka further added, “One of the ways she could get people onside would be to stop the government’s planned 91,000 civil service job cuts and the office closures that will have a massive negative impact on the Home Office”.