Day: July 8, 2022

Fraudster to appear in court

A 40-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection with a large scale fraud in Edinburgh, Lothians & Fife which happened between January 2018 and April 2022.

Following an investigation by Drylaw Initiative Team, it was established that the man defrauded 21 victims out of £25,000.

He is expected to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today (Friday, 8 July, 2022).

Crisis? What Crisis?

UK government rebuild under way as Tory candidates line up for top job

The Queen approved the following appointments yesterday as outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson assembled a new government after a tumultuous 48 hours that saw more than fifty resignations:

  • Rt Hon Greg Clark MP as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
  • Rt Hon James Cleverly MP as Secretary of State for Education
  • Rt Hon Sir Robert Buckland QC MP as Secretary of State for Wales
  • Rt Hon Kit Malthouse MP as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
  • Shailesh Vara MP as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
  • Andrew Stephenson MP as Minister without Portfolio. He will attend Cabinet.
  • Johnny Mercer MP as a Minister of State (Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) at the Cabinet Office. He will attend Cabinet.
  • Graham Stuart MP as a Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
  • Stephen McPartland MP as a Minister of State (Minister for Security) at the Home Office
  • Tom Pursglove MP as a Minister of State jointly at the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice
  • James Heappey MP as a Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence
  • Will Quince MP as a Minister of State at the Department for Education
  • Maria Caulfield MP as a Minister of State at the Department for Health and Social Care
  • Paul Scully MP as a Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. He remains as Minister for London.
  • Marcus Jones MP as a Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
  • Matt Warman MP as a Minister of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
  • Trudy Harrison MP as a Minister of State at the Department for Transport
  • Edward Timpson CBE MP as Solicitor General

Mr Johnson plans to stay on as PM until a successor is elected by the autumn, but many Tory MPs want him to leave office straight away. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab – who has ruled himself out of the race to replace Johnson – would seem like the obvious person to hold the reins during this transitional period.

Opposition leader Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer has said he will call a vote of no confidence, forcing a general election, if Johnson doesn’t go now, For that to succeed, though, Starmer would need the support of Tory MPs – and even in these turbulent times it’s pretty unlikely that turkeys will vote for Christmas!

While the Prime Minister throws together this patchwork interim government the race to succeed him has begun in earnest after Johnson was finally forced to quit as Tory leader yesterday.

Respected backbencher Tom Tugendhat is the latest MP to throw his hat into the ring, joining Attorney General Suella Braverman and Brexiteer Steve Baker who have both indicated an interest in standing for the top job. They will be joined by plenty more candidates stepping forward over the coming days, however.

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, former Health secretary Sajid Javid, transport secretary Grant Shapps and new Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi are all likely to stand, as is photo-opp queen, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (above).

Defence secretary Ben Wallace is seen as a steady pair of hands and is popular with the Tory faithful and Trade minister Penny Mordaunt is also expected to put her name forward. Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt is very likely to stand, but his successor Matt Hancock has wisely ruled himself out. There will be many more who see themselves as the perfect candidate to be our next Prime Minister, though.

Spoilt for choice?