Williamson sacked and Raab demoted as PM reshuffles his cabinet
Gavin Williamson has been sacked as education secretary in a cabinet reshuffle that has also seen Dominic Raab removed from the Foreign Office.
Mr Raab, who had been heavily criticised for his handling of the Afghanistan crisis while foreign secretary, will now become justice secretary and deputy prime minister.
He has been replaced as foreign secretary by Liz Truss, who was formerly the international trade secretary.
Mr Raab’s change of roles is the most high-profile move in a reshuffle of cabinet ministers being carried out on Wednesday by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Latest reshuffle news as PM shakes up top team
Gavin Williamson has been sacked as education secretary
Earlier, Number 10 confirmed Mr Williamson had been removed as education secretary, while Robert Buckland and Robert Jenrick have also departed their roles as justice secretary and housing, communities and local government secretary, respectively.
All three have left the government entirely, with Mr Williamson being replaced by Nadhim Zahawi, who was previously the COVID vaccines minister.
Mr Jenrick will be replaced by Michael Gove, with Downing Street saying the long-time minister will also take on “cross-government responsibility for levelling up”.
Mr Gove has become the fourth secretary of state at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government since its rebrand in 2018.
Amanda Milling was another victim of the reshuffle, as she left her role as Conservative Party co-chair less than three weeks before the Tory conference in Manchester.
It follows the Conservatives’ recent loss in the Chesham and Amersham by-election and a failure to take the Batley and Spen seat off Labour.
Ms Milling will be replaced by Mr Dowden, who will also become a Cabinet Office minister after moving from his job as culture secretary.
Nadine Dorries, who has written a number of novels and previously appeared on TV show I’m A Celebrity, has replaced Mr Dowden as culture secretary after moving from her role as a health minister.
Liz Truss has replaced Mr Raab as foreign secretary
The criticism of Mr Raab’s handling of the Afghanistan crisis included anger at his decision to take a summer holiday as the country fell to the Taliban.
There were also reports of tensions between Mr Raab’s Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence during the air evacuation of British nationals and eligible Afghans from Kabul last month.
In 2020, Mr Raab deputised for Mr Johnson while the prime minister was treated in intensive care with COVID-19.
And he will now formally take on the role as deputy prime minister after the position was revived by Mr Johnson.
The last deputy prime minister prior to Mr Raab was former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg as part of the coalition government.
Mr Raab, a former lawyer, has also been appointed the sixth justice secretary in six years as he replaces Mr Buckland.
In a Twitter post on Wednesday afternoon in which he revealed his departure from the cabinet, Mr Williamson said it had “been a privilege to serve as education secretary since 2019” and that he was “particularly proud of the transformational reforms I’ve led in post-16 education”.
He added he would “look forward to continue to support the prime minister and the government”.
Mr Williamson had faced regular criticism of his handling of the education brief during the COVID-19 crisis, including over the pandemic-enforced shutting of schools and a fiasco over the awarding of A-level and GCSE grades.
Last week, Mr Williamson was widely mocked after he admitted to confusing England footballer Marcus Rashford with rugby star Maro Itoje.
As a former Tory chief whip, Mr Williamson was widely credited with securing the vast support for Mr Johnson among Conservative MPs during the party’s 2019 leadership contest.
He was previously campaign manager for Theresa May’s successful leadership campaign and – with a reputation as one of Westminster’s most formidable organisers – it has been suggested he could prove to be a threat to Mr Johnson on the back benches.
Robert Jenrick was last year at the centre of a row over a Tory donor’s planning approval
It is the second time Mr Williamson has been sacked from government, following his departure as defence secretary in 2019 over a row about the leaking of information about Huawei’s involvement in the UK’s 5G network.
Mr Buckland also posted on Twitter to confirm his departure from cabinet.
He said he was looking to “the next adventure” and that he was “deeply proud of everything I have achieved” after serving in government for the past seven years.
Mr Jenrick, who last year was at the centre of a row over planning approval granted to a Conservative donor, tweeted that it had been a “huge privilege” to have led the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
“Thank you to everyone at the department for their hard work, dedication and friendship. I’m deeply proud of all we achieved,” he added.
“I will continue to support the prime minister and the government in every way I can.”
The prime minister is expected to complete the reshuffle of his cabinet today, with changes to lower ministerial ranks to be finalised on Thursday.
Confirmation that Mr Johnson would hold a widely-anticipated reshuffle of his ministers came during Wednesday’s session of Prime Minister’s Questions.
A Number 10 source said Mr Johnson would look to “put in place a strong and united team” to help the country recover from the COVID pandemic.
Robert Buckland had served as justice secretary since 2019
They also said the prime minister was looking for his government to “redouble our efforts to deliver on the people’s priorities” and Mr Johnson would appoint ministers “with a focus on uniting and levelling up the whole country”.
At a briefing for Westminster journalists, the prime minister’s official spokesman said Mr Johnson had not consulted his wife Carrie on the reshuffle.
Earlier in the day, Mr Johnson’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings had branded the imminent moving of ministers as the “Carrie Reshuffle”.
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner welcomed Mr Williamson’s removal as education secretary, but added: “He should have been sacked over a year ago.
“That prat’s absolute idiocy, failures and uselessness have damaged the life chances of our country’s children and this government has failed young people, teachers and education staff.”
Representatives of European Union member states reached an agreement on Wednesday in the Council of the EU to move forward with the controversial “Chat Control” child sexual abuse regulation, which paves the way for new rules targeting abusive child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on messaging apps and other online services.
“Every year, millions of files are shared that depict the sexual abuse of children… This is completely unacceptable. Therefore, I’m glad that the member states have finally agreed on a way forward that includes a number of obligations for providers of communication services,” commented Danish Minister for Justice, Peter Hummelgaard.
The deal, which follows years of division and deadlock among member states and privacy groups, allows the legislative file to move into final talks with the European Parliament on when and how platforms can be required to scan user content for suspected child sexual abuse and grooming.
The existing CSAM framework is set to expire on April 3, 2026, and is on track to be replaced by the new legislation, pending detailed negotiations with European Parliament lawmakers.
EU Chat Control laws: What’s in and what’s out
In its latest draft, the Council maintains the core CSAM framework but modifies how platforms are encouraged to act. Online services would still have to assess how their products can be abused and adopt mitigation measures.
Service providers would also have to cooperate with a newly-established EU Centre on Child Sexual Abuse to support the implementation of the regulation, and face oversight from national authorities if they fall short.
While the latest Council text removes the explicit obligation of mandatory scanning of all private messages, the legal basis for “voluntary” CSAM detection is extended indefinitely. There are also calls for tougher risk obligations for platforms.
Related: After Samourai, DOJ’s money-transmitter theory now looms over crypto mixers
A compromise that satisfies neither side
To end the Chat Control stalemate, a team of Danish negotiators in the Council worked to remove the most contentious element: the blanket mandatory scanning requirement. Under previous provisions, end-to-end encrypted services like Signal and WhatsApp would have been required to systematically search users’ messages for illegal material.
Yet, it’s a compromise that leaves both sides feeling shortchanged. Law enforcement officials warn that abusive content will still lurk in the corners of fully encrypted services, while digital rights groups argue that the deal still paves the way for broader monitoring of private communications and potential for mass surveillance, according to a Thusday Politico report.
Lead negotiator and Chair of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs in the European Parliament, Javier Zarzalejos, urged both the Council and Parliament to enter negotiations at once. He stressed the importance of establishing a legislative framework to prevent and combat child sexual abuse online, while respecting encryption.
“I am committed to work with all political groups, the Commission, and member states in the Council in the coming months in order to agree on a legally sound and balanced legislative text that contributes to effectively prevent and combating child sexual abuse online,” he stated.
The Council celebrated the latest efforts to protect children from sexual abuse online; however, former Dutch Member of Parliament Rob Roos lambasted the Council for acting similarly to the “East German era, stripping 450 million EU citizens of their right to privacy.” He warned that Brussels was acting “behind closed doors,” and that “Europe risks sliding into digital authoritarianism.”
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov pointed out that EU officials were exempt from having their messages monitored. He commented in a post on X, “The EU weaponizes people’s strong emotions about child protection to push mass surveillance and censorship. Their surveillance law proposals conveniently exempted EU officials from having their own messages scanned.”
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Privacy on trial in broader global crackdown
The latest movement on Chat Control lands in the middle of a broader global crackdown on privacy tools. European regulators and law‑enforcement agencies have pushed high‑profile cases against crypto privacy projects like Tornado Cash, while US authorities have targeted developers linked to Samurai Wallet over alleged money‑laundering and sanctions violations, thrusting privacy‑preserving software into the crosshairs.
In response, Ethereum co‑founder Vitalik Buterin doubled down on the right to privacy as a core value. He donated 128 ETH each (roughly $760,000) to decentralized messaging projects Session and SimpleX Chat, arguing their importance in “preserving our digital privacy.”
Session president Alexander Linton told Cointelegraph that regulatory and technical developments are “threatening the future of private messaging,” while co-founder Chris McCabe said the challenge was now about raising global awareness.
Magazine: 2026 is the year of pragmatic privacy in crypto — Canton, Zcash and more
Australia’s government has introduced a new bill that will regulate crypto platforms under existing financial services laws after an industry consultation saw cautious support for the legislation.
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino introduced the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025 on Wednesday, which would require crypto companies such as exchanges and custody providers to obtain an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL).
“Across the world, digital assets are reshaping finance,” Mulino told the House on Wednesday. “Australia must keep pace. If we get this right, we can attract investment, create jobs and position our financial system as a leader in innovation.”
The Treasury launched a consultation over a draft of the bill in September, which Mulino told crypto conferencegoers was “the cornerstone” of the Albanese Government’s crypto roadmap released in March.
The local crypto industry largely supported the draft legislation, but many told the consultation that the bill needed further clarity and simplification.
New bill to include safeguards for crypto held for clients
Mulino told the House it’s currently possible for a company to hold an unlimited amount of client crypto “without any financial law safeguards,” adding the risks of scams or frauds like FTX “cannot be ignored.”
“This bill responds to those challenges by reducing loopholes and ensuring comparable activities face comparable obligations, tailored to the digital asset ecosystem,” he said.
Currently, crypto platforms that simply facilitate trading only need to register with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, which has 400 registered crypto exchanges, many of which are inactive.
The legislation would focus on the companies that hold crypto for customers, “rather than the underlying technology itself,” Mulino added. “This means it can evolve as new forms of tokenisation and digital services emerge.”
Crypto bill adds two new license types, exempts small players
The bill amends the Corporations Act to create two new financial products, a “digital asset platform” and a “tokenized custody platform,” both of which will need an AFSL.
The license will register the platforms with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Currently, only exchanges that sell “financial products,” such as derivatives, must register.
Mulino said anyone “advising on, dealing in, or arranging for others to deal in” crypto will be treated as providing a financial service that requires a license.
Related: Australia risks ‘missed opportunity’ by shirking tokenization: Top regulator
Under the bill, crypto and custody platforms must meet ASIC’s minimum standards for transactions, settlements and holding customer assets. They must also give a guide to clients explaining their service, fees and risks.
Mulino said the bill exempts “small-scale” companies from licensing, those with less than 10 million Australian dollars ($6.5 million) in transaction volume in 12 months, along with those that deal or advise on platforms “incidental to their main, non-financial activities.”
The bill outlines an 18-month grace period on licensing, which Mulino said gives “relief for businesses trying to do the right thing.”
The bill is likely to quickly pass the House, where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor Party holds a 94-seat majority. It will then head to the Senate, where Labor may need the support of the crossbench and opposition to pass it.
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