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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

File photo dated 17/08/20 of former Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson in his office at the Department of Education in Westminster, London. Mr Williamson said it "has been a privilege to serve as Education Secretary" and that he looks "forward to continuing to support the Prime Minister and the Government" as Boris Johnson carries out his Cabinet reshuffle. Issue date: Wednesday September 15, 2021.
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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.

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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.

Britain's new Foreign Secretary Liz Truss leaves 10 Downing Street, in London, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. Liz Truss replaced Dominic Raab as foreign secretary in a cabinet reshuffle by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday.
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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.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick arrives at BBC Broadcasting House in London to appear on the Andrew Marr show. Labour has demanded a top-level investigation into Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick, over how Government funding was allocated to his Newark constituency.
 11-Oct-2020
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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.

FILE IMAGE  - Britain's Secretary of State of Justice Robert Buckland arrives at Downing Street in London, Britain, February 25, 2020.
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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.”

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Major German bank to offer crypto trading by 2026 amid bank ‘FOMO’

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Major German bank to offer crypto trading by 2026 amid bank ‘FOMO’

Major German bank to offer crypto trading by 2026 amid bank ‘FOMO’

Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe execs once ruled out adopting crypto over concerns of volatility and risk, and the banking giant also blocked customer crypto transactions back in 2015.

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Analysts raise chance of SOL, XRP and LTC ETF approval to 95%

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Analysts raise chance of SOL, XRP and LTC ETF approval to 95%

Analysts raise chance of SOL, XRP and LTC ETF approval to 95%

Crypto ETF summer has arrived with America’s first staked Solana ETP and increased odds for other spot altcoin funds, according to analysts.

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PM faces threat of major rebellion during key vote today

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PM faces threat of major rebellion during key vote today

Sir Keir Starmer continues to face the threat of a major rebellion during a key vote on welfare reforms later – despite making last-minute concessions to disgruntled Labour MPs.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has confirmed that all existing claimants of the personal independence payment (PIP), the main disability benefit, will be protected from changes to eligibility.

The combined value of the standard Universal Credit allowance and the health top-up will rise “at least in line with inflation” every year of this parliament.

And an additional £300m for employment support for sick and disabled people in 2026 has been announced, which will rise every year after.

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Welfare cuts ‘needed to be made’

Ms Kendall has also promised that a consultation into PIP – “co-produced” with disabled people – will be published next autumn.

She said the U-turn on welfare cuts will cost taxpayers about £2.5bn by 2030 – less than half the £4.8bn the government had expected to save with its initial proposals.

Modelling by Ms Kendall’s own department, released yesterday, suggested the proposals would push 150,000 more people into poverty by 2030, down from the 250,000 estimated under the original plan.

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But after announcing the U-turns, Labour MPs were still publicly saying they could not back the plans as they do not go far enough to allay their concerns.

Disabilities minister Stephen Timms would not say he was “confident” the proposals would pass the Commons when asked on Sky News’ Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge.

“We’ve got a very strong package, I certainly hope it passes,” he replied.

Read more: What are the concessions to the welfare reform bill?

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‘Disabled people thrown under the bus’

A total of 86 charities united yesterday to call on MPs to reject the reforms, saying they will harm disabled people and calling it “a political choice”.

The likes of Oxfam, Child Action Poverty Group, Mind and Shelter said the bill has been brought to a vote without consulting disabled people and without any assessment “of its impact on health and employment outcomes”.

When asked to name “a single” disability organisation in favour of the reforms, Ms Kendall declined to do so.

Several Labour MPs indicated they would still vote against the changes, leaving the government in the dark over how big a rebellion it still may face.

Ms Kendall tried to allay their fears, telling MPs: “I believe we have a fair package, a package that protects existing claimants because they’ve come to rely on that support.”

Richard Burgon presented a petition to parliament yesterday evening against the cuts, signed by more than 77,000 people.

Several Labour MPs questioned why the vote was going ahead before the review into PIP is published – including Rachael Maskell, who said she could not “countenance sick and disabled people being denied support” and added: “It is a matter of conscience.”

Connor Naismith said the concessions “undoubtedly improve efforts to secure welfare reform which is fair”, but added: “Unfortunately, I do not believe these concessions yet go far enough.”

Nadia Whittome
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Labour rebel Nadia Whittome said the government was ‘ignoring’ disabled people

Nadia Whittome accused the government of “ignoring” disabled people and urged ministers to go “back to the drawing board”.

Ian Byrne told the Commons he will vote against the “cruel cuts” to disability benefits because the “so-called concessions go nowhere near far enough”.

The vote will take place this evening, with coverage on Sky News’ Politics Hub live blog and on TV.

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