Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Sajid Javid is new UK home secretary

BRITISH Asian SAJID Javid was named this morning (30) as Britain's new home secretary after Amber Rudd resigned from that post, having "inadvertently misled" parliament about deportation targets for illegal immigrants.

Prime minister Theresa May's Downing Street office announced the appointment in a statement. Javid was previously Britain's communities minister.


May's spokesman said Javid had "shown drive, ambition and determination to get to grips with difficult subjects".

May appointed of Javid is seen as a way to try to draw a line under an immigration scandal that has threatened the prime minister's authority.

Javid said on Monday his most urgent task was to ensure that the so-called Windrush migrants are treated fairly after a scandal that forced predecessor Rudd to resign.

The government has faced criticism over its treatment of some long-term Caribbean residents who were wrongly labelled illegal immigrants.

"The most urgent task I have is to help those British citizens, that came from the Caribbean, the so-called Windrush generation, and make sure that they are all treated with the decency and the fairness that they deserve," Javid told broadcasters.

The son of immigrants from Pakistan, Javid at the weekend tried to defuse anger among ethnic minorities over immigration targets by saying his own family could have been caught up in it and that the government was working hard to "put things right".

The first lawmaker from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic community in Britain to hold the office, Javid may also change the balance of May's top team in negotiating Britain's departure from the European Union.

Javid, a lukewarm campaigner to stay in the bloc, replaces Amber Rudd, one of the cabinet's most outspoken pro-European members. He has said that the referendum result in 2016 meant that "in some ways, we're all Brexiteers now".

Many in May's Conservative Party, welcomed the appointment, with Liz Truss, a treasury minister, writing on Twitter that Javid "is effective, no-nonsense and brave".

Others were less complimentary, with one senior Conservative source saying on condition of anonymity that his words to the Sunday Telegraph newspaper describing his response to the scandal as an obvious bid for the job.

"Careful what you wish for," the source said.

Javid's appointment happened just hours after Rudd was forced to resign after she admitted in a letter to May that she had "inadvertently misled" a parliamentary committee last Wednesday by denying the government had targets for the deportation of illegal migrants.

May accepted her resignation, a blow to the prime minister as Rudd was one of her closest allies. It was also a blow to those lawmakers in the governing Conservative Party who want to retain the closest possible ties with the EU after Brexit.

But Rudd now might join forces with other pro-EU Conservative lawmakers, further reducing May's strength in parliament, where she lost her party's majority at an ill-judged election last year.

Sajid Javid Factbox:

* Javid campaigned to remain in the European Union during the 2016 referendum, even though a few months before the vote he said his "heart" was for Brexit. After the result, he said: "We're all Brexiteers now."

* He was the first member of Britain's South Asian minority to be given a full-time post in the cabinet when he was appointed culture minister in 2014. His father moved to Britain from Pakistan and worked as a bus driver in Bristol.

* Before starting his career in politics, Javid worked for Chase Manhattan Bank and for Deutsche Bank, helping to build its business in emerging markets.

* Javid cites the late Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher as his political inspiration, and has often hung a portrait of her in his ministerial office.

* In 2016, Javid supported the former work and pensions minister Stephen Crabb as a candidate to replace then-prime minister David Cameron as leader of the Conservative Party in return for a promise to be appointed finance minister. Crabb's bid ultimately foundered when he failed to secure enough votes.

More For You

Starmer faces revolt as welfare bill vote sparks Labour uproar

Keir Starmer speaks during a reception for public sector workers at 10 Downing Street in London on July 1, 2025. (Photo by CARL COURT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Starmer faces revolt as welfare bill vote sparks Labour uproar

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer faced the most serious test of his leadership on Tuesday (1) as his government’s flagship welfare reforms came under fierce attack from within his own party.

The day was marked by emotional speeches, last-minute concessions, and a deep sense of division among Labour MPs, many of whom said the proposed changes would push vulnerable people into poverty

Keep ReadingShow less
Lucy Letby

Letby, from Hereford in western England, was charged in 2020 after a series of deaths in the hospital's neo-natal unit.

Three senior hospital staff arrested in Lucy Letby case probe

POLICE on Tuesday said they had arrested three senior staff members at the hospital where nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty of murdering seven babies. The arrests were made on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

The investigation was launched in 2023 at the Countess of Chester Hospital (CoCH) in northwest England, following Letby’s conviction and life sentence for killings that took place between 2015 and 2016.

Keep ReadingShow less
food-delivery-getty

Uber Eats and Deliveroo will tighten ID checks, including facial verification, to curb illegal migrant work after UK government pressure. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Food delivery platforms to step up ID checks after migrant work abuse reports

FOOD delivery companies Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat have agreed to strengthen security measures, including facial verification checks, to prevent irregular migrants from working through their platforms, following criticism from the UK government.

The announcement came after the Labour government summoned the three firms for a meeting in response to a report by The Sun which exposed how some migrants were bypassing rules and working illegally in the gig economy sector.

Keep ReadingShow less
David Joseph

Joseph has chaired several BRIT Awards shows and was an executive producer of the Oscar and BAFTA-winning 2015 documentary Amy.

David Joseph named new CEO of the RSA

THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS (RSA) has announced the appointment of David Joseph CBE as its next chief executive officer. He will take over the role in September, succeeding Andy Haldane.

Joseph previously served as chairman and CEO of Universal Music UK for 17 years. During his time at the company, he oversaw its transformation into a global exporter of British music and worked with several major international artists.

Keep ReadingShow less
Labour Rift Deepens as MPs Prepare for Crucial Welfare Bill Vote

People take part in a protest against disability welfare cuts on June 30, 2025 in London. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

MPs to vote on welfare bill amid Labour divisions

DOZENS of Labour MPs are expected to vote against the government’s welfare reforms despite recent concessions aimed at easing opposition.

The government had initially planned to tighten eligibility for Personal Independence Payment (Pip) but later said the stricter rules would only apply to new claimants from November 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less