Arrogance and Self-Awareness Rarely Go Hand in Hand, Two short months after Boris Johnson’s historic election victory and there is a Cabinet reshuffle, Sajid Javid resigns as Chancellor for refusing to ‘sack’ his special advisors citing "no self-respecting minister" could accept the condition being imposed upon him, the Conservatives have just found a new PM in waiting called Sajid Javid, a man willing to standby his team

Dear All

In the battle that is politics, you occasionally, occasionally find an act that makes you sit up and take notice; Sajid Javid has dramatically resigned as the Chancellor just weeks before the Budget. The reason for his resignation is that Boris Johnson wanted all Javid’s special advisers to resign. When someone is a leader, they are responsible for the team, what they do, how they act and their welfare and security. Clearly Sajid Javid took that responsibility to heart.

So; why should all of Javid’s Spads be asked to resign in the first place?

To lose your job without cause would be a monstrous injustice no matter what side of the political divide you are fighting on. One clue to the mass ‘sacking’ could be that In September, Sonia Khan, a Treasury media adviser, was escorted by armed police from Downing St. Her removal from government came after a confrontation with No 10's chief strategist Dominic Cummings over her contact with those close to Philip Hammond, the former Chancellor. Cummings is turning out to be a bit of a Rasputin figure in Boris Johnson’s Government.

In politics when it comes to advisors, the rule of thumb is when the advisor becomes the story, they have to go. Is Dominic Cummings sailing into those waters, clearly to me, it seems that the wider Conservative Party doesn’t have any time for him. When Boris Johnson goes, so will Cummings go as well, I think he is smart enough to know the next leader of the Conservatives wouldn’t have any time for him. And with Sajid Javid’s resignation, his political capital for standing by his team will no doubt win him pundits in the party.

In the cloak and dagger world of politics, it is said that Dominic Cummings has set up a "network of spies" to watch special advisers suspected of passing over information to journalists. Leaking in politics isn’t new, it is a tool used by government to test the water on new ideas and policies; it is also a torpedo which can sink a career or a government. Government is built on trust, and the press and politicians are joined at the hip. It is no surprise that stories get out because both politicians and the press feed off each other.

You could say depending on the subject, leaking is a necessary safeguard, but in matters of national security leaking is unacceptable. National security is increasingly linked with economic and financial security, so the scope of what is acceptable to leak is narrowing. With the resignation of Sajid Javid this means a reshuffle in Boris Johnson’s Cabinet, not something he would wish, given the budget, is only a few weeks away. Whoever replaces Sajid Javid will probably do a competent job but he won’t be as good; or seen as being good, his appointment is made under a cloud. The new Chancellor is Rishi Sunak, the 39-year-old Chief Secretary of the Treasury, typical he is claimed to be a rising star, until Javid resigned however, his rising star status had stopped.

A source close to Sajid Javid said:

"He has turned down the job of Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Prime Minister said he had to fire all his special advisers and replace them with Number 10 special advisers to make it one team. The Chancellor said no self-respecting minister would accept those terms."

I agree with Sajid Javid, these terms are unacceptable, it would make have made the Chancellor an outsider in what is supposed to be his own team, there would be no loyalty, and no trust in such a setup. I think either in the short or long term, this idea is dangerously unworkable; it has all the hallmarks of the East German Stasti about it. A minister must be able to have frank discussions with his or her team in order if policy is wrong it can be worked through. Under Dominic Cummings, this type of frank discussion wouldn’t be able to take place because his spies would report to him and we would see this as an anti Boris narrative. It is a recipe for disaster and mistrust; it would mean Ministers who disagree with policy would have to find a new avenue for taking their concerns forward which excludes “their” spads. Under this approach, Ministers could feel that having no spads is better than having a Cummings spy in their office.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell noted:

“Dominic Cummings has clearly won the battle to take absolute control of the Treasury and install his stooge as Chancellor.”

Ian Murray, the Labour MP for Edinburgh South, said:

"This extraordinary reshuffle has revealed who is really in charge of this government: Dominic Cummings. Sajid Javid has shown a loyalty to his team that is all too rare in politics, standing up to the Trump-style politics on display from No 10. The reshuffle demonstrates that we need a Labour Party at full strength to stand up to Johnson and his puppet master, because the country deserves better than this shambles. That’s why Labour must choose change, not continuity.”

Ed Davey for the Liberal Democrats said "Boris Johnson’s reshuffle is in tatters. He has lost his Chancellor a mere month from the Budget. Like every crisis at No 10 you can see Dominic Cummings lurking in the background. This is the Conservatives' own unelected bureaucrat, unaccountable to the public attempting to control every part of Government”.

The resignation of Sajid Javid is a huge blow to Boris Johnson, and although there is a full blown Cabinet reshuffle in progress, the results of which will become clearer as the day goes on. I doubt this reshuffle event will overshadow what happened to Sajid Javid. It is far too early in the Premiership of Boris Johnson to allow this type of disruptive nonsense to have taken place. What I feel is that at some stage, the influence of Dominic Cummings will be brought to an end, either he will be sacked or there will be a revolt in the Conservative ranks against him. The Conservatives have always run a tight ship which is why they have seen off the Labour Party in countless elections. Cummings could destroy that unity, and if Boris doesn’t do something, he will find out how ruthless the Conservatives are at getting rid of leaders.

Finally, Cabinet reshuffles come and go, but today, we have seen a potential candidate for Prime Minister of the United Kingdom emerge, Sajid Javid, a man willing to standby his team to the end. In the world of politics, this kind of integrity is few and far between, Boris better wake up to what is happening around him. It only takes a small stone in your shoe to stop a long journey dead in its tracks.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University