RISHI Sunak today batted away calls to sack Suella Braverman after she made unauthorised claims that the Met Police is "playing favourites" over the pro-Palestine march.
Amid a second cabinet meltdown in the space of a week, the PM's spokesman insisted he has "full confidence" in his Home Secretary.
Downing Street confirmed it had "not cleared" her incendiary article taking aim at Scotland Yard - which could be a firing offence.
The ministerial code states all newspaper pieces must be approved by No10, and sanctions range from a public apology to a full-on sacking.
Mr Sunak came under huge pressure from some of the Tory ranks to cut her loose after she defied orders to press ahead with the remarks.
Ms Braverman wrote in The Times that cops were "playing favourites" by refusing to ban a Gaza march on Armistice Day.
The government was plunged into a civil war as Ministers called her a "disgrace" while her MP backers declared she "she is our hope".
Labour called on the divisive Home Secretary to go, while ex-chief inspector of constabulary Tom Winsor said she has "crossed the line".
One minister told The Sun: "I expect she wishes to go out, one way or another, in a blaze of right wing glory.
"She believes the boats can’t be stopped within the ECHR, so she will be looking to avoid blame and come back later."
London Minister Paul Scully warned that ministers need to concentrate on "lowering the temperature" and monitoring their tone.
He said: “We've got to make sure that we concentrate on dampening things down rather than fuelling that sort of hatred and that division.
"I'd tell every minister we've got to use our language carefully."
Tory MP Danny Kruger, an ally of the Home Secretary, said: “She’s talking about the broader culture of police - I think it’s extraordinary people are saying she shouldn’t be commenting on the way the police do their job.
“The Met themselves impose a ban on masks. You see thousands of people flouting that.
“Not everyone in these marches is sympathising with terrorists. The question for them is who they are keeping company with.”
Miriam Cates, co-chair of the New Conservatives group of Tory MPs, insisted Ms Braverman's language "reflects the public mood".
She told Times Radio: "I think she's reflecting very much the public mood.
"The reaction to what she says in what you might call the Westminster bubble doesn't really reflect what the rest of the public think.
"She's very much representing what you might say is the mainstream view in the UK."
Another Tory MP told The Sun: “In the end, what we have to do to win the next election is to re-ignite the enthusiasm of the coalition of people who voted for us in 2019.
“We don’t have to appeal to liberals, we don't have to appeal to left leaning intelligentsia, we have to appeal to that group.
“And that group backs all she is saying and doing 100 per cent.
“So from the government's point of view, she is critically important because she provides the government with a link to those voters.”
A Downing St spokesperson said: "The Prime Minister continues to believe that the police will operate without fear or favour."
They added No10 will "update further" after looking into the "details" of the matter.
It is understood Downing Street requested sweeping changes to the piece which were ignored. The PM is said to be "livid".
In her article, the Home Secretary lashed out at Met chiefs, claiming they are deliberately tougher on right wing protestors than "politically-connected minority groups who are favoured by the left".
Writing in , Ms Braverman said: "Unfortunately, there is a perception that senior police officers play favourites when it comes to protesters.
"During Covid, why was it that lockdown objectors were given no quarter by public order police yet Black Lives Matters demonstrators were enabled, allowed to break rules and even greeted with officers taking the knee?
"Right-wing and nationalist protesters who engage in aggression are rightly met with a stern response yet pro-Palestinian mobs displaying almost identical behaviour are largely ignored, even when clearly breaking the law?"
The Home Secretary added she's spoken to serving and former officers who have "noted this double standard".
And she compared aspects of the Palestine march to the politically-sensitive period of Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Her Cabinet colleagues were left squirming this morning as they were asked to defend her comments.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper told Times Radio: "I think all police forces are focused on upholding the law without fear or favour.
"That's what they do and they're focused on that."
Ms Braverman has previously been forced out over a breach of the ministerial code when she was Home Secretary under Liz Truss.
