Rishi Sunak claims new cabinet ‘reflects a unified party’ as Suella Braverman and Michael Gove make shock comebacks
Rishi Sunak has reinstated Suella Braverman as home secretary only six days after she resigned, in a cabinet reshuffle which Downing Street said “reflects a unified party”.
Ms Braverman, a favourite of the Conservative right, stepped down last Wednesday after admitting to sending secure government information from her personal email and being accused of breaching the ministerial code.
Labour’s Yvette Cooper accused the new PM of putting “party before country” in reinstating her in one of the four great offices of state.
“Our national security and public safety are too important for this kind of chaos,” she said.
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Elsewhere in his new cabinet, Mr Sunak culled many of those who had featured in Ms Truss’s top team – including former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg and former justice secretary Brandon Lewis – while rewarding his allies with cabinet roles.
His closest ally Oliver Dowden was rewarded with a promotion to Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, loyalist Mark Harper was handed the role of transport secretary and Mr Sunak’s leadership campaign manager Mel Stride was given the work and pensions brief.
But there was an element of continuity with the previous administration, with James Cleverly kept on as foreign secretary and Ben Wallace as defence secretary.
Mr Sunak also revived the careers of experienced frontbenchers including Dominic Raab and Michael Gove, who was sacked by Boris Johnson in the dying days of his government after urging him to stand down.
Mr Raab was named as deputy prime minister and justice secretary, roles he held under Mr Johnson before he was sacked by Ms Truss.
Mr Gove returns as levelling up secretary, a job he held before his dismissal.
Sir Gavin Williamson makes a surprise return as cabinet office minister without portfolio, having been kicked out of government in 2019 when he was defence secretary over a National Security Council leak and then sacked as education secretary in 2021 for his handling of the pandemic’s impact on schools.
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Suella Braverman returns to her role of home secretary
Another to return to the frontbenches is the former housing secretary Robert Jenrick who was appointed immigration minister.
Penny Mordaunt came out of the new cabinet as leader of the Commons, failing to win a promotion after she challenged Mr Sunak for the leadership.
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Mr Sunak confirmed he would be keeping Jeremy Hunt in position as chancellor in an attempt to reassure the financial markets after saying in his first speech outside Number 10 that he would fix the “mistakes” of his predecessor.
In a six-minute speech after he was officially appointed PM by King Charles, he said the UK was facing a “profound economic crisis” and prepared the nation for “difficult decisions” as he criticised his predecessor’s record.
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In his maiden address Rishi Sunak said: ‘I will fix mistakes’
A Number 10 source said that Mr Sunak’s cabinet “brings the talents of the party together”.
“It reflects a unified party and a cabinet with significant experience, ensuring that at this uncertain time there is continuity at the heart of government,” the source said.
“The hard work begins now and together, the prime minister’s new cabinet will deliver for the British people.”
On Tuesday evening, seeking to distance himself from Ms Truss, Mr Sunak spoke to both Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and the First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford.
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The PM said he “emphasised” their duty to work closely together, while Ms Sturgeon described the conversation as “constructive”.
His predecessor had not spoken to either leader during her brief spell in office.
Mr Sunak also spoke to US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy in his first few hours as PM.
On Wednesday morning, Sky News understands the new PM will hold the first meeting of his cabinet before, at noon, he goes head-to-head with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions.
He will then begin work on tackling the cost of living crisis and rebalancing the country’s finances, with decisions needing to be quickly made on what extra help may be required to help the most vulnerable.
The new PM will need to confirm whether his government will be pressing ahead with its fiscal statement on Monday.
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How ‘profound’ are our economic woes?
Mr Sunak became the UK’s first PM of Asian heritage and the youngest for more than 200 years when he was asked to form a government by the King at Buckingham Palace.
He entered Downing Street after winning the Conservative leadership contest on Monday, after Mr Johnson and Ms Mordaunt withdrew before a single vote was cast.
Mr Johnson, who was tipped to make a comeback less than two months after resigning as PM, offered his congratulations to Mr Sunak after his Downing Street address.
It is expected that Mr Sunak will finalise his government on Wednesday by appointing junior ministers.
Nine of a doctor’s 10 children have been killed in an Israeli missile strike on their home in Gaza, which also left her surviving son badly injured and her husband in a critical condition.
Warning: This article contains details of child deaths
Alaa Al Najjar, a paediatrician at Al Tahrir Clinic in the Nasser Medical Complex, was at work during the attack on her home, south of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, on Friday.
Graphic footage shared by the Hamas-run Palestinian Civil Defence shows the bodies of at least seven small children being pulled from the rubble.
Rescuers can be seen battling fires and searching through a collapsed building, shouting out when they locate a body, before bringing the children out one by one and wrapping their remains in body bags.
In the footage, Dr Al Najjar’s husband, Hamdi Al Najjar, who is also a doctor, is put on to a stretcher and then carried to an ambulance.
The oldest of their children was only 12 years old, according to Dr Muneer Alboursh, the director general of Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas.
Nine children were killed in the strike. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
“This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain,” he wrote in a social media post.
“In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targeted – Israel’s aggression goes further, wiping out entire families.”
Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
British doctors describe ‘horrific’ and ‘unimaginable’ attack
Two British doctors working at Nasser Hospital described the attack as “horrific” and “unimaginable” for Dr Al Najjar.
Speaking in a video diary on Friday night, Dr Graeme Groom said his last patient of the day was Dr Al Najjar’s 11-year-old son, who was badly injured and “seemed much younger as we lifted him on to the operating table”.
Hamdi Al Najjar, Dr Al Najjar’s husband who is also a doctor, was taken to hospital. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
The strike “may or may not have been aimed at his father”, Dr Groom said, adding that the man had been left “very badly injured”.
Dr Victoria Rose said the family “lived opposite a petrol station, so I don’t know whether the bomb set off some massive fire”.
Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
‘No political or military connections’
Dr Groom added: “It is unimaginable for that poor woman, both of them are doctors here.
“The father was a physician at Nasser Hospital. He had no political and no military connections. He doesn’t seem to be prominent on social media, and yet his poor wife is the only uninjured one, who has the prospect of losing her husband.”
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Nineteen of Gaza’s hospitals remain operational, all of them are overwhelmed with the number of patients and a lack of supplies
He said it was “a particularly sad day”, while Dr Rose added: “That is life in Gaza. That is the way it goes in Gaza.”
Sky News has approached the Israeli Defence Forces for comment.
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Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza began when the militant group stormed across the border into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducting 251 others.
Israel’s military response has flattened large areas of Gaza and killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
World
UN’s Antonio Guterres condemns ‘teaspoon’ of aid allowed into Gaza after dozens die in airstrikes
The head of the UN has said Israel has only authorised for Gaza what amounts to a “teaspoon” of aid after at least 60 people died in overnight airstrikes.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said on Friday the supplies approved so far “amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required,” adding “the needs are massive and the obstacles are staggering”.
He warned that more people will die unless there is “rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access”.
A woman at the site of an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
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Gaza: ‘Loads of children with huge burns’
Israel says around 300 aid trucks have been allowed through since it lifted an 11-week blockade on Monday, but according to Mr Guterres, only about a third have been transported to warehouses within Gaza due to insecurity.
The IDF said 107 vehicles carrying flour, food, medical equipment and drugs were allowed through on Thursday.
Many of Gaza’s two million residents are at high risk of famine, experts have warned.
Meanwhile, at least 60 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes across Gaza overnight.
Ten people died in the southern city of Khan Younis, and deaths were also reported in the central town of Deir al-Balah and the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to the Nasser, Al-Aqsa and Al-Ahli hospitals where the bodies were brought.
A body is carried out of rubble after an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
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‘Almost everyone depends on aid’ in Gaza
The latest strikes came a day after two Israeli embassy workers were killed in Washington.
The suspect, named as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, Illinois, told police he “did it for Gaza”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney of fuelling antisemitism following the shootings.
The leaders of the UK, France and Canada are “on the wrong side of humanity and (…) history”, he said, after they threatened “concrete action” against Israel this week if it continues its “egregious” military operations in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu also accused Sir Keir, Mr Macron and Mr Carney of siding with “mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers”.
Palestinians search for casualties in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
But UK government minister Luke Pollard told Sky News on Friday morning he “doesn’t recognise” Mr Netanyahu’s accusation.
Earlier this week, Mr Netanyahu said he was recalling negotiators from the Qatari capital, Doha, after a week of ceasefire talks failed to bring results. A working team will remain.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251 others.
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The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
A woman has been arrested after 12 people were reportedly injured in a stabbing at Hamburg’s central train station in Germany.
An attacker armed with a knife targeted people on the platform between tracks 13 and 14, according to police.
They added that the suspect was a 39-year-old woman.
Police at the scene. Pic: AP
Officers said they “believe she acted alone” and investigations into the stabbing are continuing.
There was no immediate information on a possible motive.
The fire service said six of the injured were in a life-threatening condition, three others were seriously hurt, and another three sustained minor injuries, news agency dpa reported.
The attack happened shortly after 6pm local time (5pm UK time) on Friday in front of a waiting train, regional public broadcaster NDR reported.
A high-speed ICE train with its doors open could be seen at the platform after the incident.
Railway operator Deutsche Bahn said it was “deeply shocked” by what had happened.
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Four tracks at the station were closed in the evening, and some long-distance trains were delayed or diverted.
Hamburg is Germany‘s second biggest city, with the train station being a hub for local, regional and long-distance trains.
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