The immediate threat of chaos in London’s streets has subsided, but that may only provide a brief respite for Rishi Sunak as he enters one of his most consequential weeks as Britain’s prime minister.

Chief among the Rishi Sunak’s challenges is whether to fire Home Secretary Suella Braverman after her criticism of police tactics toward pro-Palestinian protesters was blamed for drawing out far-right groups that clashed with officers during mass demonstrations in the capital Saturday. On Sunday, a Downing Street official declined to say if Braverman would still be in her job in a week, while Defense Secretary Grant Shapps responded to the same question only by noting that “a week is a long time in politics.”

Rishi Sunak has come under pressure to punish Braverman for criticizing the Metropolitan Police in a newspaper commentary hours after he had appeared to resolve disputes with the force’s commissioner about protests overlapping with annual events to commemorate Britain’s war dead. Two Cabinet members on Sunday described the challenge to the prime minister’s authority as untenable, despite Braverman’s strong popularity among the Conservative Party’s right wing.

If Sunak keeps Braverman, he’ll feed efforts by Labour leader Keir Starmer to paint him as weak ahead of an expected general election next year, one Tory lawmaker said. Ousting her may prompt theright to revolt, leaving the Conservatives even more divided, another said, calling it a lose-lose situation.

More than 300,000 pro-Palestine demonstrators turned out Saturday for the largest march in London since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict more than a month ago. Some protest leaders credited Braverman – who had branded participants as “hate marchers,” in reference to reports that past events had included chants of “jihad” – with increasing public support.

The Met has also blamed the political drama for making their efforts to maintain public order more difficult. The conflict in Gaza, the Armistice Day holiday and the intense debate about protest and policing “all combined to increase community tensions,” Assistant Police Commissioner Matt Twist said late Saturday.

Shapps, who was representing the government on the Sunday political talk shows, deflected questions about Braverman’s responsibility, telling Sky News: “These marches were already going to happen. These counter-protests were already going to happen.” When asked about her future, he said the makeup of the government was a matter for the prime minister.

Police made some 145 arrests during the demonstrations Saturday, including scores of counter-protesters whom police prevented from intercepting the largely peaceful pro-Palestine march. The Met said Sunday that seven men had been charged with a variety of offenses, including assault on an emergency worker, criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon.

“This can’t go on,” Braverman said on the social media platform X on Sunday, thanking police and calling the injuries suffered by some officers “an outrage.” While she mentioned “violence and aggression” by members of both camps, she focused her criticism on the pro-Palestine marchers.

“Antisemitism and other forms of racism together with the valorising of terrorism on such a scale is deeply troubling,” Braverman said on the platform formerly known as Twitter. Police have posted photographs on social media of people they are looking to identify over possible anti-Semitic hate crimes and supporting Hamas, which the UK has designated as a terrorist organization.

Braverman, who oversees immigration policy, is closely linked to another looming milestone for Sunak: a UK Supreme Court ruling due Wednesday on the legality of the government’s plan to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda. The timing complicates the prime minister’s decision on Braverman because waiting until after the judgment is handed down risks making it look like the two events were related.

The government isn’t confident it will win the Rwanda case, the Downing Street official said.

Some Conservative officials were bracing for a Cabinet shake-up, which they believed could come as soon as Monday, when Sunak’s public schedule is clear other than a foreign policy speech in the evening. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden held meetings last week to discuss a potential reshuffle, Bloomberg reported last week.

Several Tory lawmakers have privately urged Sunak to sack Braverman, echoing public demands for her exit by the opposition Labour Party.

“She inflamed tension, she also attacked the police, undermined respect for the police at a really important time – that was highly irresponsible,” Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, told the BBC on Sunday. “It is just not the way any home secretary would do that job other than Suella Braverman, and Rishi Sunak is being so weak that he is allowing her to do that. It is very damaging.”

Most realtime air monitoring platforms this morning pegged the air quality index (AQI) above 500, with some places reaching as high as 900. Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium recorded an AQI of 910, Lajpat Nagar 959 and Karol Bagh 779 around 6 am, according to aqi.in.The average AQI was around 300 at most places, showed data recorded by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The PM2.5 and PM10 pollutant levels touched 500 at most places during the day, including in Rohini, ITO, and Delhi airport area.Air quality index is an indicator to measure air pollution. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, 401 and 450 ‘severe’ and above 450 ‘severe plus’.People burst firecrackers across Delhi, Noida and Gurugram, and other regions in the NCR yesterday. Social media visuals showed people gathering in the parks of the locality for bursting crackers. Many others questioned the Supreme Court ban and the failure of the authorities in implementing it.The Supreme Court last week clarified that its order banning firecrackers containing barium binds every state and is not just limited to the Delhi-NCR region. In September, the court had refused to interfere with the Delhi government’s ban on firecrackers, saying people’s health is important.Environmentalist Bhavreen Kandhari said firecrackers were burst in Defence Colony too, but complaints registered at the local police station resulted in no change. “The Supreme Court’s firm stance on firecrackers got blown in the smoke of the firecrackers. Despite warnings and a complete ban…implementing authorities have failed yet again,” she told PTI.Delhi yesterday recorded its best Diwali day air quality in eight years with clear skies and abundant sunshine. The AQI stood at 218 at 4 pm, the best in at least three weeks, with rains last week bringing about a slight improvement just ahead of the festival of lights.Delhi recorded an AQI of 312 on Diwali last year, 382 in 2021, 414 in 2020, 337 in 2019, 281 in 2018, 319 in 2017 and 431 in 2016, according to Central Pollution Control Board data.Delhi, where the air quality ranks among the worst in the world’s capital cities, was cloaked in a thick blanket of smog with severe pollution levels for a week since October 28. The government had to shut schools and ban diesel trucks in view of the pollution, though it stopped short of enforcing the odd-even rule.A western disturbance brought rain over most parts of northwest India late last week, which reduced the contribution of smoke from stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana to Delhi’s air pollution. The weather office had earlier predicted a marginal improvement in air quality ahead of Diwali due to the light rain.

The US still faces a risk of a government shutdown at the end of this week despite a new compromise plan by Speaker Mike Johnson that leaves out hardline conservative priorities like cutting spending and curtailing migration.

A shutdown would threaten a downward US credit rating adjustment by Moody’s Investors Service, which has cited political dysfunction as a growing risk to bond investors. A federal funding lapse would also have political repercussions for both parties.

Congress has just days to pass a new stopgap bill before funding runs out after Nov. 17. Johnson on Sunday suggested his plan would buy lawmakers time to negotiate individual spending bills, which fiscal conservatives have demanded.

“Washington’s spending addiction cannot be broken overnight,” he said on the social media site X. “But I will not allow end of year megabus spending packages to continue under my leadership.”

Johnson’s plan could still run aground in the face of combined resistance from GOP conservatives and the White House, which is irked by the lack of Ukraine aid in the plan and the fact it extends funding for some agencies to Jan. 19 and others to Feb. 2.

The House plans to vote on the plan on Tuesday. Johnson will need some Democratic votes given his narrow majority and opposition by fiscal conservatives.

Even before that stopgap vote, conservatives could block the plan before it comes to the floor or on a procedural vote setting up debate.

“Disappointing is as polite as I can muster. I will be voting NO,” conservative Warren Davidson of Ohio said on X Saturday.

Democrats have been muted in their reaction to Johnson’s plan but there were some early signs it could receive bipartisan backing.

“I don’t like what the House is talking about but I’m willing to listen,” Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said on NBC’s Meet the Press.

The White House, however, said Johnson’s plan would only lead to future shutdowns. President Joe Biden could issue a formal veto threat later Monday.

But the bill lacks the strings that many Democrats had feared, and a veto threat could allow Republicans to blame the shutdown on the president.

Political Dysfunction

This year has brought the US near a debt default, provoked Fitch Ratings to downgrade the nation’s sovereign debt and cost Johnson’s predecessor his job. Republican hardliners ousted then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy after he offered a similar strings-free stopgap.

Moody’s, the only major credit grader still to give the US its top rating, on Friday changed its ratings outlook for the US from stable to negative, citing risks to the nation’s fiscal strength and political polarization in Congress.

The chaotic three-week process to elect a new speaker damaged Republicans’ standing in swing states, according to a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll from October 30 through November 7.

By a 9 percentage-point margin, swing-state voters said the speaker chaos made them more likely to vote Democratic in 2024 over those who said the process made it more likely they would vote Republican. Among independents, the margin was 7 points in favor of Democrats.

A shutdown beginning Saturday would furlough hundreds of thousands of federal workers just before the Thanksgiving holiday and delay government contracts and vendor payments. Military personnel, law enforcement officers and other essential employees would continue to work but go without pay until the impasse is resolved.

Financial markets so far have shrugged off the growing risk of a shutdown as investors focus on high interest rates, volatility in bond markets, slowing consumer spending and war in the Middle East.

A government shutdown would initially have a mild economic impact but build incrementally as millions of workers go without salary, private contractors aren’t paid and consumer uncertainty grows. The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index slid to a six-month low in its preliminary November reading.

Johnson’s plan would extend current funding until Jan. 19 for the departments of Veterans Affairs, Energy, Agriculture, Transportation as well as Housing and Urban Development, with the rest extended to Feb. 2.

In the Senate, Republicans could move as soon as Monday night to block Democrats from starting work on their rival plan.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has teed up a procedural vote Monday afternoon to advance placeholder legislation for temporary funding, likely into January.

Senators in both parties have also been discussing a path forward for $106 billion in security funding Biden sought for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the US border. The package has been held up by Republican demands for asylum and other immigration policy changes.

Chances for reaching a deal this week that also includes the emergency security assistance are dropping given the complexity of the immigration issue.