LIZ TRUSS was confirmed as the new Foreign Secretary today as Prime Minister Boris Johnson reshuffled his top team ahead of a difficult winter for his government.
The former international trade secretary replaced Dominic Raab, who was demoted but became Justice Secretary and deputy PM in place of the axed Robert Buckland.
Mr Johnson also made Nadhim Zahawi the new Education Secretary after dismissing Gavin Williamson, while Michael Gove replaced Robert Jenrick as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Priti Patel kept their jobs.
Further changes at junior ministerial level were expected after the Morning Star went to press.
Mr Johnson said that he wanted a “strong and united” Cabinet amid rising anger over his impending increase in National Insurance contributions, cut to universal credit payments and supply chain disruption that is leaving supermarket shelves empty.
Mr Williamson tweeted that he was “proud of the transformational reforms” that he claims to have overseen in education, despite being blasted by unions, teachers and MPs for his handling of school closures and exam cancellations during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Reacting to the news, Labour shadow education secretary Kate Green said the South Staffordshire MP had “failed young people, their parents and our hard-working education staff.
“Two years of exams chaos and staff abandoned, unsupported and demoralised, that is Gavin Williamson’s legacy.”
University and College Union general secretary Jo Grady slammed Mr Williamson for causing “deep and lasting damage” to the education system.
Reacting to Mr Zahawi’s appointment, the National Education Union said that it hoped he would show a passion for transforming young people’s lives.
Also claiming to be proud of his achievements was Mr Jenrick, despite them including the unlawful approval of a Tory donor’s housing development.
Mr Buckland said that it had been an honour to serve, but he leaves behind a record-high backlog of Crown Court cases, while the number of rape convictions is at an all-time low.
Mr Raab’s role change did not surprise many observers after he failed to break off his holiday as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban last month.
Shadow justice secretary David Lammy said: “Appointing [to the justice brief] a failed foreign secretary who was fired for being missing in action shows how little this government cares about victims of crime.
“Victims need a justice secretary who is capable of fixing the courts crisis the government created, not one who has been open about his opposition to the fundamental freedoms that the public depends on.”
