Barely six days after being fired as Britain’s home secretary over a security breach, immigration hardliner Suella Braverman is back in the post. Rishi Sunak, the country’s first Asian prime minister, has dismayed critics by reappointing Braverman after promising his government would have “integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.”

For the India-UK free-trade deal that Sunak’s predecessor Liz Truss had hoped to sign by Diwali, Braverman’s reinstatement is another nail in the coffin. Just a couple of weeks ago, Braverman had sank prospects of a quick signing with her outspoken opposition to one of New Delhi’s key asks – greater Indian visa access.

Braverman’s comments claiming Indians are the worst visa “overstayers” infuriated the Indian government which was in the process of negotiating the free-trade agreement.

As for the rest of Sunak’s cabinet, it’s more of the same-old, same-old. Murmurings about Sunak’s lacklustre cabinet hires began soon after he made the first few appointments. After pledging to build a “government of all talents,” Sunak began putting familiar faces back in their old jobs which they had held either under Liz Truss's catastrophic short-lived government or the earlier tumultuous Boris Johnson administration.

Sunak kept Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, Foreign Minister James Cleverly and chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt on in their present jobs. Another old face, Dominic Raab, returned to his posts of deputy prime minister and justice minister which he had held under Johnson.

But it was the reappointment of Braverman, who’s bent on slashing annual immigration to the “tens of thousands” from 139,000 currently and her ardent support of plans to send illegal migrants to Rwanda for processing, that brought down a torrent of criticism on Sunak just hours after he had taken office. The opposition and a former public standards watchdog flayed Sunak for re-appointing her.

Bravernman had broken the ministerial security code after a massive clash with Truss over government plans to relax immigration rules and seeking to email the sensitive draft to another right-wing Tory MP from her personal account as well as trying to copy in his wife but mistakenly emailing the proposal to another MP.

“A breach of the ministerial code is seen as a serious matter and would make any minister an inappropriate appointment to one of the four most senior positions in government,” said Alistair Graham, the ex-head of a government committee on public life standards. “Our national security and public safety are too important for this kind of chaos,” added Labour shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper.

The reappointment of Braverman, who’s a key member of the fiercely right-wing European Research Group, astonished some Conservative MPs as well but is widely seen as her reward for backing Sunak when Johnson was attempting a comeback during the latest leadership race. On Sunday, she startled political observers by announcing she would back Sunak even though it had been expected she would throw her weight behind her old boss Johnson.

"This government is not so much a reboot as a restoration of an old idea," commented The Guardian.

Noticeably, after grand talk about putting together a government involving all factions of the brutally splintered, Conservative Party, nothing like that has really happened. Hunt was appointed by Truss to put right the economic mess created by her first Chancellor of the exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng.

Earlier in the day it had appeared that Sunak had made an unsmiling but competent start to his term. Later in the day, The Guardian said Sunak's government was “'united by ideas that have failed.” However, The Guardian added that the present new cabinet formation may have "done the job insofar as it just slightly ruffles most MPs feathers.

Sunak will need all the talent he can muster as he seeks to tackle what he said was “the profound economic crisis” facing Britain that include a major downturn and cost-of-living crisis, the continuing economic hits from Brexit and the Russia-Ukraine war.

“This is shaping up to be a good Cabinet reshuffle … for the Opposition. He had the chance to signal the competence, compassion and integrity he promised, which has been so absent in recent PMs,” tweeted Alastair Campbell who served as press secretary under former Labour prime minister Tony Blair.

“Instead he’s picked a deeply uninspiring mix of current and recently departed. Braverman’s appointment is a truly dreadful error which will unravel quickly,” Campbell said, adding, “As I feared, this is going to be a very right-wing government.”

One political rival who has been left out in the cold is Penny Mordaunt, Sunak’s challenger for the top job till Sunday night. Mordaunt got back her old job as leader of the House of Commons but nothing more as she was seen by Sunak supporters as having pulled out of the race too late in the day.