Boris Johnson’s reshuffle starts and ends an utter catastrophe
Boris Johnson’s attempt at a “moderate reshuffle” has been lambasted as an utter catastrophe after his Chancellor was forced to resign in a power struggle between him and Dominic Cummings.
This reshuffle has seen the appointment of an another extreme government that’s shaping up to be the worst since Thatcher, with ministers who have supported the death penalty, said feminists were “obnoxious bigots”, opposed equal marriage and supported ripping up the devolution settlement.
Here’s a brief look at some of the ministers in Boris Johnson’s cabinet from hell.
Rishi Sunak – Chancellor of the Exchequer
Boris Johnson was forced to appoint a new Chancellor after Sajid Javid resigned saying that “no self-respecting minister” could accept the conditions of control-freaky that were attempted to be put upon him by Dominc Cummings.
Johnson was forced to turn to Rishi Sunak – another Oxbridge Tory, meaning that only one of the Tories last six Chancellors have not been picked from the upper class graduates of Oxford or Cambridge.
Prior to parliament, Rishi Sunak had worked as a banker for Goldman Sachs and has been a devoted member of the Tory’s extreme Brexit wing – going so far as to say that post-Brexit the UK “wouldn’t even need a trade deal with the European Union“.
NEW: Javid makes statement to camera after quitting as chancellor saying ‘no self respecting minister would accept the conditions offered by the prime minister today’
— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) February 13, 2020
Dominic Raab – Foreign Secretary
The extreme Brexiteer remains as Foreign Secretary, despite his ignorance in understanding the UK’s trading position as an island.
Aside from his geographic failings, his comments on feminists, food banks and the minimum wage have been far from diplomatic.
Raab has defended his claim that feminists are some of the “most obnoxious bigots”, and he sparked fury in 2017 when he said that most food bank users are “not languishing in poverty” and branded calls for more cash for the NHS as a “childish wish list” .
This is a Foreign Secretary who doesn’t understand devolution, didn’t understand the Good Friday Agreement, and is prepared to throw Scotland’s interests under a bus for his ideological obsession with the hardest possible Brexit.
Dominic Raab was the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator. https://t.co/0sOk07CA2x
— Ross Colquhoun (@rosscolquhoun) June 10, 2019
Priti Patel – Home Secretary
The Home Secretary his chief amongst the extreme-right of the Tory Party, and is on record as supporting the death penalty.
Priti Patel was sacked in disgrace in 2017, after breaching the ministerial code by holding unauthorised meetings with Israeli politicians, business people and senior lobbyists.
She was a key backer of the “hostile environment” which lead to the Windrush scandal and made EU citizens feel unwelcome, and has a consistent record of voting against basic human rights protections – all of which suggests her appointment might lead to an even more toxic treatment of migrants by Westminster.
'It’s not the government': Priti Patel says poverty is not Westminster's fault – video https://t.co/4E3USUbvCQ
— The Guardian (@guardian) November 21, 2019
George Eustice – Environment Secretary
Only days after being accused of “not getting climate change“, Boris Johnson proved that to be factual with the apppointment of someone who has voted 14 times against tackling climate change.
At a time when the climate crisis is the biggest global challenge facing every nation on earth, this appointment to the role of Environment Secretary is politically criminal in its ineptitude.
George Eustice has been appointed as Environment Secretary
Pretty important post given the state of the world and the public engagement and concern…
… I'll just leave this here. pic.twitter.com/bEmXenq6Ds
— Alexis Conran (@alexisconran) February 13, 2020
Gavin Williamson – Education Secretary
Despite being sacked for a major breach of national security with the Huawei leak, Williamson was remains a member of Boris Johnson’s cabinet.
His voting record reveals his true colours as an extremist, out-of-touch Tory: he voted to raise tuition fees in England and scrap the Educational Maintenance Allowance, in favour of repealing the Human Rights Act, and against same-sex marriage on numerous occasions.
If Civil Servants had done anything close to what Gavin Williamson and Priti Patel got sacked for they would never work for the government again. A prime example of one rule for them and another for the rest. Stinks to high heaven.
— Stewart McDonald MP (@StewartMcDonald) July 24, 2019
Liz Truss – International Trade Secretary
Her staunch ideological support for cutting taxes for the very richest, as well as her obsession with cutting regulations and workers’ rights, put the UK under threat of post-Brexit bargain-basement trade deals which would see Trump, Truss and Johnson carving up our NHS.
Boris Johnson ally Liz Truss demands tax cuts for the rich in ‘1980s’ planhttps://t.co/8GEaeQp8eP pic.twitter.com/rtjxbXzx9i
— Mirror Politics (@MirrorPolitics) July 11, 2019
Jacob Rees-Mogg – Leader of the House of Commons
Despite his appalling comments on the victims of the Grenfell fire, Rees-Mogg somehow remains Leader of the House of Commons.
A Trump-admiring, climate change denying, multi-millionaire cheerleader of austerity, Rees-Mogg is the embodiment of the new Tory party under Boris Johnson and sets out a chilling future for Scotland in the UK.
Jacob Rees-Mogg claims Grenfell victims lacked common sense https://t.co/xq6OFsWJcf
— The Guardian (@guardian) November 5, 2019
Alister Jack – Secretary of State for Scotland
The new Secretary of State for Scotland has only been an MP since June 2017. He supports a no-deal Brexit. A Scottish Tory frontbencher told the Times, “the reason he is so popular with the UK party is because he invites ministers to his country estate”.
From a favourable 2007 piece in the Scotsman on his business career, our new Secretary of State for Scotland?
"[Alister] Jack retains political ambitions, but is dismissive of both the theory and practice of the Scottish Parliament". https://t.co/n1vVuXffkm
— Tom Arthur (@ThomasCArthur) July 24, 2019