Yvette Cooper appointed UK Foreign Secretary in major reshuffle

By Chronicle staff and PA

Yvette Cooper was appointed UK Foreign Secretary on Friday as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer embarked on a major reshuffle of his senior team, following the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner for breaching the ministerial code when she did not pay enough stamp duty on a seaside home.

Ms Cooper takes over from David Lammy, who as Foreign Secretary was closely involved in the final stages of the negotiation for a UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar’s post-Brexit future.

Mr Lammy, who was last in Gibraltar on June 11 ahead of the announcement in Brussels of a political agreement for the treaty, was appointed Justice Secretary in the reshuffle and also takes over as Deputy Prime Minister.

Shabana Mahmood, formerly the Justice Secretary, is the new Home Secretary.

Reacting to the announcement, No.6 Convent Place said Chief Minister Fabian Picardo had written to Mr Lammy thanking him for his support of Gibraltar in his role as Foreign Secretary.

Mr Picardo also wrote to Ms Cooper to congratulate her on her appointment as Foreign Secretary and to thank her for her support of the Gibraltar negotiating team as Home Secretary.

“David has been a great friend and a huge support in the final stretches of the negotiation of the agreement with Spain and the EU and I am as grateful for his political support and hard work as I am for his enduring friendship and personal support in his time as shadow Foreign Secretary and in the crucial period he was substantively in post in the Foreign Office,” Mr Picardo said.

“Yvette knows the Gibraltar issues well from her role in the Home Office as Home Secretary and will be familiar with the detail of immigration related issues that the technical text of our draft Treaty involves.”

“I have written to both and look forward to continuing to work with both of them in the new roles in Government.”

OTHER CHANGES

As part of the reshuffle, Pat McFadden, a senior minister within the Cabinet Office, is taking over a new “super ministry” comprised of the Department for Work and Pensions and the skills remit of the Department for Education.

Steve Reed has taken over Ms Rayner’s brief as Housing Secretary, leaving behind his role as environment secretary.

Lucy Powell and Ian Murray have been sacked as leader of the House of Commons and Scotland secretary respectively.

Ms Rayner resigned as deputy PM, housing secretary and deputy Labour leader after Sir Keir’s ethics adviser said she failed to “heed the caution” contained within legal advice she received when buying an £800,000 property in Hove.

The outgoing deputy prime minister admitted she had underpaid stamp duty on the flat, and referred herself to Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent ethics adviser.

In a letter published on Friday, Sir Laurie said he believed Ms Rayner had acted in “good faith”, but that “the responsibility of any taxpayer for reporting their tax returns and settling their liabilities rests ultimately with themselves”.

Sir Laurie added: “She believed that she relied on the legal advice she had received, but unfortunately did not heed the caution contained within it, which acknowledged that it did not constitute expert tax advice and which suggested that expert advice be sought.”

The ethics watchdog said that Ms Rayner’s failure to settle her full stamp duty liability, along with the fact that this was only established following media scrutiny, led him to consider the ministerial code had been breached.

Ms Rayner told the Prime Minister in a letter on Friday that “I deeply regret my decision to not seek additional specialist tax advice” and said she took “full responsibility for this error”.

In his response, Sir Keir said Ms Rayner would “remain a major figure in our party” and “continue to fight for the causes you care so passionately about”.

The shake-up of the top team sees Sir Keir attempt to reclaim the narrative following Ms Rayner’s resignation, after a mini-reshuffle earlier this week – eclipsed by the tax row – was dubbed “phase 2” of the Government.

Mr Lammy was viewed favourably for his work as foreign secretary, as part of the successful charm offensive which won over the Trump administration.

New Home Secretary Ms Mahmood is widely predicted by Westminster watchers to offer a new hardline stance on migration, having only on Thursday suggested she is open to reforming how a European human rights treaty impacts British law.