Philip Hammond, who was the foreign secretary in the David Cameron government, replaced George Osborne as the chancellor of the exchequer. Gone, too, was Michael Gove, the justice secretary who many Tories believe betrayed former ally Johnson by running for Conservative leader himself – a job Johnson had long sought. Michael Fallon will remain defense secretary, replacing Liam Fox, who will assume the newly created job of worldwide trade minister. Pro-Brexit campaigners told voters they would be able to stop the free movement of European Union citizens into Britain while also keeping access to the EU’s single market, an incompatible proposition that May also said is her priority.
Advertisement
EU leaders, however, are pressuring Britain to open formal exit talks sooner – and warning that the United Kingdom can not have access to the single European market of 500 million people without accepting the free movement of EU citizens, a sticking point for many pro-Brexit Britons.
Boris Johnson, probably the best-known member of the new cabinet in the USA, is now Britain’s foreign secretary, making him the country’s senior diplomat as Britain extricates itself from the EU.
And being PM would not stop him from working elsewhere.
Corbyn challenged Cameron on the rise in homelessness during his tenure but also said he wished the prime minister well. It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies; and one can imagine that Blair, twice victor overseas but enmired at home, is similarly seduced by foreign politeness. The government is also trying to rehire retired civil servants familiar with the complexities of free trade agreements after voters made a decision to leave the European Union last month.
Some may say that the Brexit could not have come at a worse time when it comes to the environmental goals that are meant to be in place and presented to the European Commission in just a few weeks time with the Paris Climate Treaty.
Davis, who served under Conservative Prime Minister John Major in bruising 1990s dealings with the European Union, is one of the staunchest euroskeptics in British politics.
British Prime Minister Theresa May filled out her Cabinet posts Thursday, assembling a government that sweeps away many of her predecessor’s supporters and places strongly anti-EU figures in key global roles.
There is also speculation that May, Britain’s second female prime minister after Margaret Thatcher, will boost the number of women in top posts.
She arrived at her new Downing Street residence with a promise to tackle “burning injustice”.
One opportunity could be at the Conservative Party conference on October 2. The media blitz suggests that one of the new government’s first priorities is to counter worries that the economy will slip into recession amid a softening of consumer and business confidence. In an interview for BBC radio, she selected the Abba song “Dancing Queen” as one of her favorites. “The lead and the tone will be set by the prime minister”.
Hammond acknowledged that investment in Britain had been shaken since the referendum result.
“The prime minister’s legacy will undoubtedly be that he has taken us to the brink of being taken out of the European Union, so we will not be applauding his premiership”, Angus Robertson, leader of the Scottish National Party’s delegation in Parliament, told Cameron at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
Advertisement
And as economic uncertainty swirls from the shock decision to quit the bloc, the Bank of England was mulling possible rate cuts to stimulate the economy.
