Jacob Rees-Mogg has joined the British cabinet as a Brexit minister in a mini-reshuffle aimed at shoring up Boris Johnson’s position among Conservative MPs. Mr Rees-Mogg will be responsible for “Brexit opportunities” but will not have a role in negotiations with the European Union, which remain the responsibility of foreign secretary Liz Truss.
Chris Heaton-Harris, who as Europe minister has been Ms Truss’s deputy in talks with the EU on the Northern Ireland protocol, replaces Mark Spencer as chief whip. Mr Spencer, who replaces Mr Rees-Mogg as leader of the House of Commons, is currently under investigation for allegedly telling fellow MP Nusrat Ghani that she was sacked as a minister because of her “Muslimness”.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said the reshuffle was part of a series of changes to how the government is run aimed at strengthening cabinet government and improving the link between Downing Street and MPs.
“The changes being made today will strengthen that connection. We have changes to the whips’ office, improving engagement with MPs and helping to drive the government’s ambitious agenda,” the spokesman said.
“We have a new Brexit opportunities minister, a role that’s been created to drive forward the changes we are able to make now that we have left the EU, delivering on our post-Brexit agenda across Whitehall.”
Starmer smear
The reshuffle came as Mr Johnson remained under pressure to withdraw his claim last week that Labour leader Keir Starmer was responsible for failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile. Sir Keir was surrounded outside parliament on Monday evening by a mob shouting about Savile and calling him a paedophile protector.
A number of Conservative MPs linked the incident to Mr Johnson’s comments and said he should withdraw them. Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle said on Tuesday that he had asked for an update from the police about the incident.
“I know it has been reported that some abuse was directed at the leader of the opposition yesterday related to claims made by the prime minister in this chamber. But regardless of yesterday’s incident, I made it clear last week that while the prime minister’s words were not disorderly they were inappropriate. As I said then, these sorts of comments only inflame opinions and generate disregard for the house and it is not acceptable. Our words have consequences and we should always be mindful of the fact,” he said.
Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon said Mr Johnson risked corroding “the very fabric of our democracy” by bringing the smears and conspiracy theories of the far-right into mainstream political discourse. But she said the prime minister knew exactly what he was doing with his smear against the Labour leader.
“He’s many things, but he’s not naive and any politician who chooses to weaponise a conspiracy theory circulated around social media by the far right against an opponent knows what they are doing. And either they are trying to stir up the kind of hate that flows from that, or they don’t care about that being the consequence. And either way that behaviour is just unbefitting somebody in Boris Johnson’s position,” she told Sky News.
