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Wales’s new first minister Vaughan Gething has announced his cabinet, including a top job for his former leadership rival.

Mr Gething was confirmed as Wales‘s first minister on Wednesday after Mark Drakeford officially stepped aside.

His leadership rival, former education minister Jeremy Miles, will now serve as cabinet secretary for the economy, energy and Welsh language.

The only other figures to leave the government, other than Mr Drakeford, are former deputy minister for social services Julie Morgan and former deputy climate change minister Lee Waters.

As well as quitting his government job, Mr Waters has deleted his X account after receiving abuse over the rollout of the default 20mph speed limit in Wales.

Vaughan Gething with his new cabinet. Pic: Matthew Horwood/Welsh government
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Vaughan Gething with his new cabinet. Pic: Matthew Horwood/Welsh government

‘All parts of Wales’

Ken Skates returns to cabinet for the first time since 2021 as cabinet secretary for North Wales and transport.

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Lynne Neagle, who has been a member of the Senedd since it first sat in 1999, has been appointed Wales’s new education secretary.

While Huw Irranca Davies takes on the role of cabinet secretary for climate change and rural affairs, returning to cabinet for the first time in six years.

He takes on the role after thousands of farmers recently descended on the Senedd to protest against a new subsidy scheme, which will require farms to meet a series of environmental obligations in return for government funding.

Former rural affairs minister Lesley Griffiths has been announced as the new culture and social justice cabinet secretary.

Mick Antoniw remains as counsel general, the government’s top legal job, while Eluned Morgan, Rebecca Evans and Julie James keep the health, finance and housing briefs respectively.

Another member of the inaugural Senedd, Jane Hutt remains chief whip and also becomes the Trefnydd – a similar role to the leader of the House of Commons.

“I’m incredibly proud to bring together a government drawn from all parts of Wales to serve the whole of our nation, with progressive politics at its heart,” Mr Gething said.

“While there will be many challenges ahead, there are even greater opportunities. I am ambitious about the work this team will do to make Wales an even better place.”

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Hannah Blythyn and Dawn Bowden also stay on in cabinet, with Ms Blythyn remaining as minister for social partnership and Ms Bowden getting a new role as minister for social care.

Jayne Bryant joins the cabinet for the first time as minister for mental health and early years.

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Why Boris’s best mate is off to Reform

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Why Boris's best mate is off to Reform

👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈       

Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

On today’s episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss if his defection will divide parts of Reform policy.

Elsewhere, the Anglo-French summit gets under way, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to announce a migration deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to deter small boat crossings.

Plus, chatter around Whitehall that No10 are considering a pre-summer reshuffle, but will it have any value?

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Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

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Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

The trial is part of Project Acacia, an initiative from the RBA exploring how digital money and tokenization could support financial markets in Australia.

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Starmer and Macron agree need for ‘new deterrent’ to stop small boat crossings

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Starmer and Macron agree need for 'new deterrent' to stop small boat crossings

Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have agreed the need for a “new deterrent” to deter small boats crossings in the Channel, Downing Street has said.

The prime minister met Mr Macron this afternoon as part of the French president’s state visit to the UK, which began on Tuesday.

High up the agenda for the two leaders is the need to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel, which Mr Macron said yesterday was a “burden” for both the UK and France.

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The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.

Sir Keir is hoping he can reach a deal for a one-in one-out return treaty with France, ahead of the UK-France summit on Thursday, which will involve ministerial teams from both nations.

The deal would see those crossing the Channel illegally sent back to France in exchange for Britain taking in any asylum seeker with a family connection in the UK.

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However, it is understood the deal is still in the balance, with some EU countries unhappy about France and the UK agreeing on a bilateral deal.

French newspaper Le Monde reports that up to 50 small boat migrants could be sent back to France each week, starting from August, as part of an agreement between Sir Keir and Mr Macron.

A statement from Downing Street said: “The prime minister met the French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street this afternoon.

“They reflected on the state visit of the president so far, agreeing that it had been an important representation of the deep ties between our two countries.

“Moving on to discuss joint working, they shared their desire to deepen our partnership further – from joint leadership in support of Ukraine to strengthening our defence collaboration and increasing bilateral trade and investment.”

It added: “The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions.

“The prime minister spoke of his government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.

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“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.”

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, seized on the statement to criticise Labour for scrapping the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan, which the Tories claim would have sent asylum seekers “entering the UK illegally” to Rwanda.

He said in an online post: “We had a deterrent ready to go, where every single illegal immigrant arriving over the Channel would be sent to Rwanda.

“But Starmer cancelled this before it had a chance to start.

“Now, a year later, he’s realised he made a massive mistake. That’s why numbers have surged and this year so far has been the worst in history for illegal channel crossings.

“Starmer is weak and incompetent and he’s lost control of our borders.”

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