The Foreign Secretary is to become lead negotiator with the EU on the Northern Ireland Protocol, following the departure of Lord Frost.
Liz Truss will take over Ministerial responsibility for the UK’s relationship with the European Union with immediate effect.
She will become the UK’s co-chair of the Partnership Council and the Joint Committee, and will lead the ongoing negotiations to resolve the problems arising from the current operation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Chris Heaton-Harris will become Minister of State for Europe and will deputise for the Foreign Secretary as necessary on EU Exit and the Protocol.
The Queen has been pleased to approve the following appointments:
- Chris Heaton-Harris MP to be a Minister of State (Minister for Europe) in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office;
- Wendy Morton MP to be a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Transport.
Attendees at Transport for the North’s annual conference were blessed with a real treat today. Following Chris Heaton-Harris’s address (prerecorded, presumably because the trains ran too slowly), the hall’s sound system blared out house music at full volume as the audience eagerly awaited the next guest speaker. Here are the lyrics to “WATEVA & Fiveight’s – Get $”, as heard this morning:
“Money
Money
Money
Money
They took my f*@king moneyLet’s get money, motherf*@ker, get money
Get money, motherf*@ker, get money
Let’s get money, motherf*@ker, get money
Get money, motherf*@ker, get money”
Former Corbyn and McDonnell spinner James Mills now runs TfN’s communications and engagement. Probably just a coincidence…
Reshuffles don’t just mean new jobs for MPs, but also new parliamentary offices for them and their staff; and much like reshuffles, not all office moves are upgrades. Returned to the backbenches is Tobias Ellwood, who discovered this scene today when he walked into his new Portcullis House office to discover it utterly trashed. The rumour mill is now all abuzz about who left it in such a state…
Guido can reveal that the previous occupant was Chris Heaton-Harris, who was promoted to Minister of State for Transport in Boris’s reshuffle.
Portcullis House is undergoing huge refurbishment works over the Summer Recess, however a Guido co-conspirator says that whilst the maintenance work has created some mess, no other offices have been left in this wrecked a state. Hopefully Chris Heaton-Harris is better at sorting out the mess of Britain’s transport than he is at cleaning up his own…
Chris Heaton-Harris has published a more honest intern advert than most, writing that the successful candidate is likely to have “A sense of humour, or at least the ability to pretend jokes are funny” and that “candidates who think that everyday will be like the West Wing need not apply.” Sound advice.
Brexit Minister Chris Heaton-Harris has become the second minister to resign over May’s pivot to Corbyn last night, following his flatmate Nigel Adams this morning. Heaton-Harris warns that “every time we seek an extension to this process we diminish faith in our political system” and says he “simply cannot support any further extension to Article 50”:
By Guido’s count this makes him the seventh Brexit minister to resign under Theresa May…
Brexit Minister @chhcalling says negotiations on the Irish border backstop are not a "complete waste of time" and there is a "huge amount of activity" in talks with EU leaders.
Follow the latest on #Ridge here: https://t.co/qqvfnK3ox6 pic.twitter.com/7ppiFNn2Yb
— Sophy Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) February 17, 2019
You know your negotiations are going well when your Brexit minister has to insist they’re not a “complete waste of time”…
