British finance minister quits
• Shock move after Sajid Javid was ordered to fire all his special advisers
Britain’s finance minister, Sajid Javid, resigned on Thursday, dealing a blow to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government just weeks after Brexit and a month before the budget.
Britain’s finance minister, Sajid Javid, resigned on Thursday, dealing a blow to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government just weeks after Brexit and a month before the budget.
The chancellor of the exchequer stood down after Johnson tried to use a reorganisation of his cabinet to get rid of some of Javid’s aides, a source close to the departing minister said.
Javid was replaced at once by senior treasury official Rishi Sunak. His departure has come as a shock at a turbulent time for Britain, just weeks after the country’s departure from the EU on January 31.
Johnson was carrying out a cabinet reshuffle, his first since winning a comfortable parliamentary majority in the December general election.
Javid, a former City of London banker from a working-class Muslim family, was considered to be safe in his job, despite reports of tensions between him and Johnson’s senior aide, Dominic Cummings.
But rumours began to circulate after his meeting with the prime minister went on longer than expected.
“He has turned down the job of chancellor of the exchequer,” said a source close to Javid. “The prime minister said he had to fire all his special advisers and replace them with Number 10 special advisers to make it one team. The chancellor said no self-respecting minister would accept those terms.”
Earlier, Johnson sacked his Northern Ireland minister despite his role in restoring the devolved government to Belfast after a three-year suspension last month.
Julian Smith had helped end the political vacuum in Northern Ireland by persuading the two main parties to return to a power-sharing government last month.
The British province had no government since Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) fell out in January 2017 in a dispute about a renewableenergy scandal.
Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar led tributes to Smith’s efforts, saying he was “one of Britain’s finest politicians of our time”.
But The Times newspaper said Johnson felt “blindsided” by the deal because it includes an investigation into alleged crimes by British soldiers during decades of sectarian violence that are known locally as “the troubles”.
Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney, who was also involved closely in the power-sharing talks, said that without Smith’s leadership there would be no government in Belfast.
“You have been such an effective secretary of state for Northern Ireland at a time of real challenge and risk,” he tweeted.
Arlene Foster, who as DUP leader was restored as first minister of Northern Ireland under the deal, also hailed his “dedication to the role”.
Smith said it had been “the biggest privilege” and that he was “extremely grateful” to Johnson for giving him the chance to serve.
Business secretary Andrea Leadsom, environment secretary Theresa Villiers and attorney-general Geoffrey Cox were also shown the door. But foreign minister Dominic Raab and Michael Gove, Johnson’s de facto deputy, are staying.
Johnson postponed carrying out a cabinet reshuffle immediately after his December election victory, choosing to wait until Britain left the EU.
After years of political turmoil over Brexit, he wants to focus this year on domestic issues, including investments in police, health care and infrastructure. Johnson also named former aid minister Alok Sharma as the new minister in charge of the COP26 UN climate summit, which is being held in Glasgow in November.
The former president, Claire O’Neill, was sacked last month. She responded with a blistering attack on his leadership, and warned that planning for the summit was “way off track”.
THE CHANCELLOR SAID NO SELFRESPECTING MINISTER WOULD ACCEPT THOSE TERMS