Suella Braverman forwarded government documents to her private email accounts at least 127 times while she was attorney general in a potential breach of the ministerial code, it has emerged.

The revelation came after a Freedom of Information campaign by the Times newspaper.

The Conservative, who was in the Cabinet role under Boris Johnson, and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) did not respond to requests for comment.

For security reasons, ministers are banned from sending sensitive emails and documents to their private accounts.

As attorney general, the chief legal adviser to the government, Braverman dealt with highly sensitive matters of state.

But between 2021 and 2022, she forwarded 127 emails to her private accounts, with the emails containing at least 290 documents.

The contents of the emails are not yet publicly known.

The information was revealed after an 18-month transparency battle by the Times and a ruling by a tribunal judge.

The AGO had refused to answer the Times’ Freedom of Information request about Braverman’s emails, saying it would be too costly to search her ministerial inbox.

In a ruling, Judge Simon Heald said “it appears to us that the AGO initially went about finding private email account details in a convoluted way”, which was “not a sensible way to start”.

He said the AGO could, “using the tools available in Outlook, answer the request with relative ease”.

During the period in question, Ms Braverman took the BBC to the High Court in a bid to stop the publication of a story about an abusive MI5 agent.

She was one of those formally investigated by a leak inquiry when secret details of the court case were passed to the Daily Telegraph in January 2022.

She was later appointed home secretary, but had to resign when it emerged she had sent an official document to a parliamentary colleague using her personal email.

She later admitted sending official correspondence to her private email account on six more occasions.

After becoming home secretary once again, she was sacked last year by then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for comments in a newspaper article accusing the Metropolitan Police of bias in the policing of protests.

She said police applied a “double standard” by being tougher with right-wing demonstrations than pro-Palestinian ones.

Ms Braverman remains an MP and influential figure in sections of the Conservative Party.

Some members of the public have not taken Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s call for new ideas to improve the health service as seriously as he might have hoped.

Suggested ideas for NHS reform included putting beer on tap in hospitals, and placing Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta in charge.

The health department told the BBC officials were reviewing posts, and were removing or hiding material that was “clearly inappropriate or irrelevant”.

Ministers launched an online “national conversation” earlier, to inform a new 10-year plan to improve health services.

In a social media post, Mr Streeting sought to laugh off some of the more irreverent suggestions.

Writing on X, he quipped that a recommendation for a Wetherspoons pub in every hospital had been “sadly vetoed by the chancellor”.

He also rejected a call for him to be fired out of a cannon in a bid to raise funds for the service.

The health department has promised that the listening exercise will “help shape” its new NHS strategy, to be published in spring next year.

But some of the suggestions are less likely to be taken seriously than others.

Ideas that appear to have disappeared from the consultation website include putting lager Madrí on tap in all hospitals to “help patient morale”, and replacing Streeting as health secretary with a dog.

However suggestions to replace ambulance sirens with healthy eating advice, and install Thunderbird 2-style detachable patient compartments in ambulances, appear to still be online.

By late afternoon, the suggestions ranked most popular by users on the site included limits on sending out paper letters, and making it easier for GP surgeries to access digital records from hospitals.

Other highly-ranked ideas include making it easier for non-British nationals to pay for treatment, and fines for missed appointments, an idea suggested and then dropped by former prime minister Rishi Sunak.

The health department has not confirmed which posts it is removing, but a spokesperson said “clearly inappropriate or irrelevant” material was being removed or hidden by the moderation team.

Ideas suggested by ministers at the launch of the consultation include making full medical records, tests results and letters from doctors available in the NHS App.

Currently the NHS App is limited because patients records are held locally by a patient’s GP and any hospitals they visit – and not all parts of the health service interact with the app.

It is not the first time ministers have attempted to engage the public directly in matters of state.

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition asked the public for suggested laws to abolish, and ran a Treasury-led public consultation on ideas to save money.

The most famous example of a listening exercise, however, remains the 2016 poll which saw the public vote to name a new polar research ship “Boaty McBoatface”.

The name, suggested by former BBC Radio Jersey presenter James Hand, achieved viral fame and became the runaway winner in a contest run by the Natural Environment Research Council.

In a blow to online democracy, the ship was later named after broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, although one of its remotely operated sub-sea vehicles was named “Boaty” in recognition of the vote.

The Serious Fraud Office is investigating the construction of a hotel and conference centre owned by one of the UK’s biggest trade unions, the BBC can reveal.

Unite the Union spent a total of £112m of its members’ money on the project in Birmingham.

The building has since been valued at just £29m, suggesting £83m has been wasted.

A KC-led inquiry commissioned by Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham also identified a missing £14m which has been described as a “mystery” and does not feature in the project’s final accounts.

Unite has told the BBC the case is “now with the Serious Fraud Office” and Ms Graham would “leave no stone unturned in finding out if there was any financial wrongdoing”.

A KC-led inquiry commissioned by Ms Graham, who took over as Unite’s general secretary in 2021, also identified a missing £14m which has been described as a “mystery” and does not feature in the project’s final accounts.

An SFO spokesperson said: “In line with long established practice to avoid prejudice to law enforcement activity, we can neither confirm nor deny any investigation into this matter.”

The Birmingham project was intended to be an investment for Unite as well as saving the union money with hotel and conference costs.

Construction was completed in 2020 and development includes a four star 195 bedroom hotel, a 1,000 person capacity conference centre, as well as Unite’s regional offices.

Employment tribunal documents reveal the union believes its ruling executive council had been misled as to the true value of the project.

In 2022 South Wales Police searched the union’s London headquarters as part of a separate bribery, money-laundering and fraud investigation.

The force has told the BBC that the investigation is ongoing.

A Unite spokesperson said: “It is important to note that Sharon Graham has had to endure repeated attacks by those with much to lose since she launched these inquiries, from both inside and outside the union.

“These have been sickening and horrendous but she has remained determined to get to the truth.

“We are also pursuing legal claims to recover money lost to the union and the general secretary has put safeguards in place to ensure that such things can never happen again.”

Government ministers are considering a smacking ban for England, the Department for Education has confirmed.

Smacking bans have already been brought in by devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Jersey, outlawing the use of physical violence to punish children.

Plans for similar laws in England were rejected by the previous Conservative government as recently as last year – but Labour ministers are now “looking carefully” at whether more can be done on the issue.

The move comes following fresh calls for a ban by the Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza, after the death of 10-year-old Sara Sharif.

A court heard Sara was hooded, burned and beaten over a two-year period as her father, stepmother and uncle stand trial for her murder, which they deny.

Dame Rachel said a ban on any type of corporal punishment, including smacking, hitting, slapping, and shaking, could stop lower level violence from escalating.

“If we are serious about keeping every child safe, it’s time England takes this necessary step,” she posted on X.

“Too many children have been harmed or killed at the hands of the people who should love and care for them most.”

In England and Northern Ireland it is legal for a carer or parent to discipline their child physically if it is a “reasonable” punishment – but the Children Act 2004 made it illegal to assault a child causing actual or grievous bodily harm.

Dame Rachel said the experience of Scotland and Wales ” has taught us we need to take that step in England too” and “now is the time to go further”.

The NSPCC and Barnardo’s have long called for an English smacking ban and two-thirds of English people polled by YouGov in March last year said physically disciplining a child is not acceptable.

The previous government argued parents should be trusted to discipline their children.

However, a Department for Education spokesperson told the BBC that stance has changed.

“Any form of violence towards a child is completely unacceptable, and we are looking closely at the legal changes made in Wales and Scotland as we consider whether there is any more we could do in this area,” they said.

“We are already supporting teachers, social workers and all safeguarding professionals to spot the signs of abuse or neglect more quickly, including with our mandatory framework for safeguarding children.”

Angela Rayner has been made a full member of the UK’s national security council (NSC), following a U-turn by Sir Keir Starmer.

The deputy prime minister’s name did not appear on a list of ministers attending the committee published by the government last week.

But the document has now been re-published to include her as a member, confirming a move first reported by the Guardian.

The newspaper reported the new No 10 chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, had pushed for the change in a bid to shore up her position.

Downing Street said she had previously attended NSC meetings, claiming the change merely “formalises” an expectation she would do so regularly.

First established under former prime minister David Cameron, the NSC brings together senior ministers and defence and intelligence chiefs for meetings on security issues. Its members are appointed by the prime minister.

It membership has fluctuated over the years and varies by issue discussed, but has typically included previous deputy prime ministers as standing members.

The only exception was Therese Coffey, who held the post during the 49-day premiership of Liz Truss.

Ms Truss who effectively put an end to the NSC by merging its functions with two other foreign policy committees, before it was later reinstated by Rishi Sunak.

Topics discussed at the NSC include foreign policy, defence, economic security, and resilience to security threats.

Its membership was slimmed down in July 2021under Boris Johnson, in a bid to keep discussions “focused and strategic”.

Alongside Ms Rayner, the committee is will be attended by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Defence Secretary John Healey and the Attorney General Lord Hermer, and will be chaired by Sir Keir.

Mr Rayner, who is also the housing secretary, also holds seats on cabinet sub-committees discussing constitutional matters, home and economic affairs, and changes to employment law.