Johnson dumps failures.. then appoints more
BORIS Johnson staged a “fire and rehire” reshuffle yesterday sacking Dominic Raab as Foreign Secretary and bringing him back as Justice Secretary.
Liz Truss, the right-wing darling of Tory activists, replaced Raab as Foreign Secretary in a triumphant move from her role as postBrexit Trade Secretary.
With hard-line Priti Patel staying on as Home Secretary, two of the so-called great offices of state in the UK cabinet are held by women for the first time.
PM Johnson’s biggest rival Rishi Sunak stayed Chancellor and Ben Wallace remained as Defence Secretary.
Disco inferno Michael Gove, the PM’s Mr Fix-it, was moved from the Cabinet Office to take on Johnson’s levelling up agenda as Housing and Communities Secretary for England.
But Gove also keeps his responsibility for defending the Union against the SNP. Johnson loyalist Alister Jack was expected to be kept on as Scottish Secretary.
Raab was the biggest victim of the reshuffle, following his disastrous handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal when he was on holiday when the Taliban took Kabul.
But he fought hard to stay in cabinet and replaced Robert Jenrick at Justice, and wrangled the title of Deputy Prime Minister as well as staying First Secretary of State.
Nadine Dorries was made Culture Secretary and AnneMarie Trevelyan replaced Truss as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.
The PM sacked Gavin Williamson as Education Secretary after he made a hash of it during lockdown. Nadhim Zahawi, who was in charge of vaccines, replaced him.
Tory party co-chair Amanda Milling was also ousted, just weeks before the Tory conference.
Two Roberts were fired – Jenrick at Housing after controversies including the unlawful approval of a Tory donor’s housing development, and Robert Buckland from Justice. The SNP dismissed the reshuffle. Westminster Deputy Leader Kirsten Oswald MP said: “It beggars belief that UK Government ministers can break the ministerial code, act unlawfully, jet off on holiday during a crisis, and fail to fulfil their basic duties – yet keep their place in the Tory Cabinet at the taxpayers’ expense.”
Labour decried how Ministers who voted to cut £30million from families on Universal Credit earned £17,000 each in severance payments.
Jonathan Reynolds MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: “That the Government is giving pay-offs to those they do not deem competent enough to be in Government while cutting the incomes of millions of people is an insult to hardworking people.”