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Suella Braverman has denied trying to oust Rishi Sunak by “spreading poison” in the Tory Party.
In a bruising interview on BBC Radio 4, the former home secretary, who was sacked by the prime minister last month, defended her outspoken attacks on Mr Sunak and her provocative views on immigration.
She said she was merely being “honest” and would not “shy away” from confronting difficult issues.
“If that upsets polite society I am sorry about it,” she said.
She had been challenged by interviewer Nick Robinson who told her: “You are a headline grabber and you do it by spreading poison even within your own party.”
She replied: “The truth is that when I served as home secretary I sought to be honest, honest to the British people, honest for the British people and sometimes honesty is uncomfortable, but I’m not going to shy away from telling people how it is and from plain speaking, and if that upsets polite society, then I’m sorry about that.”
She had denounced Mr Sunak as “weak” and accused him of “betrayal”.
The exchange came as Ms Braverman once again attacked the Rwanda plan, saying: “This Bill will fail.” She said the reality “is it won’t work and it will not stop the boats”.
Mr Sunak unveiled a Bill in the Commons to “disapply” the UK Human Rights Act in a bid to stop British judges from blocking the deportation of asylum seekers.
It was designed to revive the government’s failed plan to deport migrants to Rwanda, which was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court.
But, asked about Mr Sunak’s Bill on Thursday morning, Ms Braverman said: “I am very concerned that the bill on the table will allow a merry go round of league legal claims and litigation. Ultimately, this bill will fail.”
Since being fired by the PM, Ms Braverman has been on the warpath and is widely seen to be plotting a bid to succeed him as Tory leader.
In a letter responding to her sacking, Ms Braverman slammed Mr Sunak for leading the Conservatives to “record election defeats” and said his “resets have failed and we are running out of time”.
On Thursday she told the BBC the party was now in “a very perilous situation” and needed to “deliver on a key promise” to stop small boats crossing the Channel.
She denied speculation she is plotting to bring down Mr Sunak’s government, saying “no one’s talking about leadership or changing leadership”. “That’s nonsense,” she said.
But she piled pressure on the PM, saying: “I want the prime minister to succeed in stopping the boats. He said he would do whatever it takes.”