Shocking, appalling, reactionary, outrageous? Of course it is! And that’s the point of making such noise in the absence of policy

Sue-Ellen Cassiana Braverman’s deliberately provocative speech to the American Enterprise Institute on migration, refugees and reform of the 1951 Convention on Human Rights is likely a precursor to a Conservative Party conference which will no doubt be dominated by similar provocative speeches. In recent months, it has become a hallmark of the Conservatives’ strategy.

It’s not about policy any more, it turns out; the Conservatives’ migration policy has more or less failed, and Braverman’s words are designed to merely provoke outrage and the fill the gap in the absence of any workable policy. That’s the point. This is all they have now.

It is about dividing lines, and creating a sense of outrage - and panic, in some cases - in the absence of anything even remotely substantive or meaningful that may, in any way, make our lives better.

The fact that her speech in Washington was signed off by No. 10 proves this. 

What’s different about it now is that Suella Braverman has taken her rhetoric to the global stage and in the process has not only managed to embarrass herself and the Conservatives, but also the United Kingdom, too. 

It’s quite the feat to offend so many people all in one go - especially when almost nobody outside of the sphere of politics [in the UK or otherwise] knows who Sue-Ellen Cassiana Braverman is or gives two figs about what she thinks.