Tag: Jeremy Hunt

In his letter resigning as foreign secretary, he said the prime minister was leading the UK into a "semi-Brexit" with the "status of a colony". His resignation came hours after Brexit Secretary David Davis quit the cabinet. She said the deal agreed by the cabinet after their "productive discussions" at Chequers would "honour the result of the referendum" and allow the UK to "take back control of our borders, our law and our money". Boris Johnson's resignation letter in full The PM's response to Johnson In her letter accepting his resignation, the prime minister said she had allowed cabinet ministers "considerable latitude to express their individual views" on Brexit. The UK is due to leave the European Union on 29 March 2019, but the two sides have yet to agree how trade will work between the UK and the EU afterwards. Mrs May only has a majority in Parliament with the support of the 10 MPs from Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, so any split raises questions about whether her plan could survive a Commons vote. Theresa May is sticking by her Brexit plan Speaking in a boisterous House of Commons, Mrs May defended the Brexit plan agreed on Friday, which would see the UK agreeing a "common rulebook" with the EU for trading in goods, but not services, after Brexit. Report Brussels fears UK turmoil may lead to no-deal Brexit What does it all mean for Brexit? One other element of Friday's agreement worth noting is that it pledged to speed up preparations for the UK to be ready to leave the EU without a Brexit deal in March next year. He backed Mr Johnson, saying the former foreign secretary had the chance to "save Brexit" by moving against the prime minister.

It follows Boris Johnson’s departure on Monday when he became the second cabinet minister to resign in 24 hours, claiming Britain was “headed for the status of colony”. Cabinet: who's in and who's out David Davis Goes to the backbenches after kicking off the ministerial reshuffle with his resignation as Brexit secretary over Theresa May's negotiation plans. “At least half a dozen people made that point and the prime minister responded, too – what is good for the country is a Conservative government.” Earlier, Downing Street announced Johnson’s resignation as foreign secretary, just minutes before May addressed MPs about the softer Brexit plan agreed at Chequers on Friday. Many of the prime minister’s supporters believe she would win a contest and cement her authority; but May would face a leadership challenge if she lost, with Johnson among the potential candidates. Asked whether May would contest a no confidence vote, a Downing Street source said simply: “Yes.” The Guardian view on Boris Johnson’s resignation: good riddance to a national embarrassment | Editorial Read more Asked whether May was confident that the rest of her cabinet backed the negotiating position agreed at Chequers, which is due to be fleshed out in a white paper later this week, he added: “There is no reason to think otherwise.” The carefully choreographed meeting last week resulted in a deal May believed her cabinet had signed up to, which would create a “UK-EU free trade area” for goods, governed by a “common rule book”. Johnson was the cabinet minister most closely associated with Vote Leave’s controversial claim that Brexit would deliver an extra £350m a week for the NHS. Davis was replaced as Brexit secretary by fellow leaver Dominic Raab. One senior Brexiter suggested more resignations could follow in the coming weeks and months. “If you’d told me two hours ago that this is how we’d end the day, I’d have bitten your hand off.” As Johnson’s resignation was announced, Labour MPs were being briefed about the government’s soft Brexit plan by May’s de facto deputy, David Lidington, in a sign that Downing Street is beginning to accept that it will need to draw on cross-party support to get her plans through parliament, without the backing of hardline Brexiters.

We’re going to close down this live blog after a frenetic day of politics news. Thanks for reading. You can catch up on the full story here: And here’s a summary of what’s happened this afternoon... May’s position looked precarious as she was hit by a series of high profile resignations, including those of the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, and the Brexit secretary, David Davis, both Brexit supporters. The long-serving health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, was appointed foreign secretary to replace Johnson and Dominic Raab was made Brexit secretary in place of Davis. Matt Hancock took over Hunt’s role at the Department for Health, while Jeremy Wright was moved from attorney general to culture secretary to replace him. And Chris Heaton-Harris became a junior minister at the Brexit department, replacing Steve Baker. May addressed backbenchers and many sought to project an image of unity afterwards. But it took less than an hour for one attendee to hand in his resignation. Guy Verhofstadt, the chief Brexit coordinator for the European Parliament, says he hopes today’s resignations will lead to unity in the UK government.

Downing Street has insisted it will not back down on leaving the customs union, as pro-Brexit MPs signalled their resolve over the issue ahead of a key week for the future of the UK’s relations with Europe. “The position remains very clear: we don’t think staying in a customs union is the right thing to do and it isn’t government policy to do so,” a Downing Street source said. Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, reiterated the point on BBC1’s Breakfast on Monday. “She has said that we are not going to be part of the customs union or any customs union. “I’ve heard many times the prime minister say that it is our policy to leave the single market and customs union. “More importantly, on a three-line whip, we have twice now had formal, important votes in the House of Commons on this, and the House of Commons voted on both occasions by a big margin that we should leave the single market and the customs union.” Asked if the prime minister might shift her policy, Redwood said: “Theresa May won’t change her mind, I assume, because she’s been crystal clear on this throughout, and the Conservative manifesto was quite clear on this, and we need to stick to our word.” The BBC later reported that No 10 could even decree that any vote on staying in the customs union via amendments tabled by Tory remainers would be seen as an issue of confidence in the government. However, a Downing Street source dismissed this. Kenneth Clarke, who has supported one of these amendments, told Today the issue had “suddenly become panic of the day among the apparatchiks in Downing Street”. Any customs union makes it effectively impossible to negotiate free trade deals with other countries – one of the government’s key ambitions and a central justification for leaving the EU. At least 10 Conservative backbenchers have signed an amendment to the trade and customs bill supporting continued membership.

Jeremy Hunt received a “bulk discount” on seven flats bought from a Conservative donor, the Guardian can disclose, as parliament’s watchdog opened an investigation into the health secretary’s admission that he breached money laundering rules. The health secretary was forced to apologise for failing to declare his part-ownership of a company, which bought the luxury seaside flats in Southampton. A spokesperson for Roach said that all sales at Alexandra Wharf were at “open market value”, adding that the businessman’s political donations had been properly declared on the Electoral Commission website. They added that the pair had known each other for “several years” but had no business relationship beyond the purchase of the flats. A spokesperson for Hunt said: “The owner of the development is a long-standing acquaintance. He says the omission was an honest administrative error made by his accountant and since corrected. According to the MPs’ code of conduct, “members shall fulfil conscientiously the requirements of the House in respect of the registration of interests in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests”. The spokeswoman blamed Hunt’s accountant for mistakes in the Companies House documents. “Jeremy’s accountant made an error in the Companies House filing, which was a genuine oversight. “With respect to ministerial and parliamentary declarations, the Cabinet Office are clear that there has been no breach of the ministerial code.”

Nine cabinet ministers, including the prime minister, are making more than £10,000 a year by acting as landlords, a Guardian analysis has found. Following Jeremy Hunt’s failure to declare the purchase of seven luxury flats that he subsequently rented out, an analysis of the parliamentary register of MPs’ interests shows eight other members of the cabinet own property that is rented out for a five-figure annual sum. The health secretary was forced to make an embarrassing apology on Friday after it emerged that he had failed to declare a business interest with both Companies House and the parliamentary register of MPs’ interests. There is no suggestion that the ministers are in breach of the ministerial code. The cabinet’s property portfolio Rental properties with value over £100,000 and/or giving income of over £10,000 a year Jeremy Hunt Secretary of state for health and social care 0.5 share of holiday house in Italy 0.5 share of an office building in Hammersmith 7 apartments in Southampton Theresa May Prime minister Philip Hammond Chancellor 1 flat, central London 1 house in London Boris Johnson Foreign secretary Sajid Javid Local government 1 house in London 1 house in Bristol 1 house in London Liam Fox International trade Chris Grayling Transport 1 residential property in London SE1 2 terraced houses in London Alun Cairns MP, Wales Brandon Lewis 1 property in Cardiff 1 House in Essex Theresa May Prime minister Philip Hammond Chancellor Jeremy Hunt Secretary of state for health and social care 1 flat in central London 1 house in London 0.5 share of holiday house in Italy 0.5 share of an office building in Hammersmith 7 apartments in Southampton Liam Fox International trade Chris Grayling Transport Boris Johnson Foreign secretary Sajid Javid Local government 1 house in London 1 house in Bristol 1 house in London 1 residential property in London SE1 2 terraced houses in London Guardian graphic. Shadow cabinet office minister Jon Trickett said: “This is simply unacceptable and especially so given the secretary of state’s position at the heart of Theresa May’s government.” Guardian inquiries have established that the flats were developed by a property company owned by a Conservative donor. According to the property giant Savills, each flat in the development is worth between £450,000 and £1m. The spokeswoman blamed Hunt’s accountant for mistakes in the Companies House’ documents. “Jeremy’s accountant made an error in the Companies House filing, which was a genuine oversight.

Brexit Prof Hawking campaigned for the UK to remain in the EU, warning Brexit would be a "disaster" for science funding. After the referendum, he said he was "sad about the result", in an article for the Guardian, warning against the "envy and isolationism" he said had driven it and arguing for a fairer sharing of wealth "both within nations and across national borders". "Thank you prime minister for those very kind words," he said, through his voice synthesiser. Stephen Hawking: A life in pictures The Labour Party "I regard Corbyn as a disaster," he said last year. "I think the human race and its DNA will increase in complexity quite rapidly." Assisted dying Enable it in your browser or download Flash Player here. "I briefly tried to commit suicide by not breathing. The Iraq War "The war was based on two lies," he told the crowd. "Nuclear war remains the greatest danger to the survival of the human race," he said. Animal testing In 1998, Prof Hawking sparked controversy by defending the use of animals in medical research.

The Medical Director for NHS North West has stepped down from the role today, citing fears that he may one day have had to talk to Jeremy Hunt if he didn’t. Martin Davis MD has sensationally quit from his role as medical director after rumours grew that Jeremy Hunt would soon be making an appearance to talk to him about what could be done better. ‘I’ve really enjoyed my time as medical director, but the thought of spending two minutes in a room with that utter Hunt was enough for me to decide to jack it all in,’ said Davis. Davis plans to retire completely from the medical profession. He intends to retrain as a circus clown. ‘It’ll be nice to be an actual clown, rather than just being treated like one,’ he told us. The job is now open for applications. Thus far, with the threat of a Hunt visit hanging over it, no-one has applied. Meanwhile Jeremy Hunt is celebrating the news that he’s successfully chased another medical professional out of the NHS. He receives a £10 bonus for every time he does so.

The Medical Director for NHS North West has stepped down from the role today, citing fears that he may one day have had to talk to Jeremy Hunt if he didn’t. Martin Davis MD has sensationally quit from his role as medical director after rumours grew that Jeremy Hunt would soon be making an appearance to talk to him about what could be done better. ‘I’ve really enjoyed my time as medical director, but the thought of spending two minutes in a room with that utter Hunt was enough for me to decide to jack it all in,’ said Davis. Davis plans to retire completely from the medical profession. He intends to retrain as a circus clown. ‘It’ll be nice to be an actual clown, rather than just being treated like one,’ he told us. The job is now open for applications. Thus far, with the threat of a Hunt visit hanging over it, no-one has applied. Meanwhile Jeremy Hunt is celebrating the news that he’s successfully chased another medical professional out of the NHS. He receives a £10 bonus for everytime he does so.