Cameron appointed as Foreign Secretary and life peer by Rishi Sunak
Former Prime Minister David Cameron has been appointed as the new Foreign Secretary by Rishi Sunak, who took over as the Prime Minister after Boris Johnson resigned last week. Cameron, who is not an MP, has also been made a life peer in order to join the Cabinet.
The move has been widely criticised by opposition parties and the public, who accused Sunak of rewarding Cameron for his support during the leadership contest. Cameron had endorsed Sunak as the best candidate to lead the Conservative Party and the country after Johnson’s departure.
Cameron, who was the Prime Minister from 2010 to 2016, is widely blamed for the Brexit referendum that resulted in the UK leaving the European Union in 2020. He had called the referendum in 2016 to appease the Eurosceptic wing of his party, but failed to secure a Remain vote and resigned shortly after.
SNP says Scotland will be ‘appalled’ by Cameron’s comeback
The Scottish National Party (SNP) has condemned Cameron’s return to the government, saying that Scotland will be ‘appalled’ by the decision. The SNP’s deputy Westminster leader Mhairi Black said that Cameron was the ‘architect of thirteen years of Tory austerity cuts, and the disastrous Brexit referendum’.
“David Cameron’s damaging Tory policies slashed Scotland’s budget, hammered the economy, pushed millions into poverty and cut vital public services. And his catastrophic error of judgement on Brexit is the biggest UK foreign policy disaster since the Iraq war – and has set the UK on a path to long-term decay and decline,” Black said.
Black added that the only way to get rid of Westminster Tory governments for good is independence, and that Scotland needs to escape Westminster control. “Independent European countries like Scotland are wealthier and fairer than the UK. So the question is – why not Scotland?” she asked.
Green Party co-leader calls Cameron’s appointment ‘a slap in the face’
The Green Party co-leader Patrick Harvie also criticised Cameron’s appointment, calling it ‘a slap in the face’ to the people of Scotland and the rest of the UK. Harvie said that Cameron had shown ‘contempt’ for democracy and the environment during his time as Prime Minister.
“David Cameron presided over a government that inflicted devastating cuts on public services, welfare and local government, while handing out tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations. He also ignored the climate crisis, scrapped green policies and pushed for fracking and nuclear power. He has no credibility or legitimacy to represent the UK on the world stage,” Harvie said.
Harvie urged the people of Scotland to vote for the Scottish Greens in the upcoming Scottish Parliament elections in May 2024, saying that they are the only party that can challenge the Tories and deliver a green recovery from the pandemic and Brexit.
Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s Westminster leader, says the UK is ‘not a serious country’
Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s Westminster leader, said that the appointment of Cameron as Foreign Secretary showed that the UK is ‘not a serious country’. Flynn said that Cameron will not be accountable to the House of Commons, and that he is unfit to deal with the global challenges facing the UK.
“Truly remarkable that during a time of huge international unrest, not least in Ukraine and Gaza, the House of Commons will not be able to directly scrutinise the work of the actual Foreign Secretary. The UK is not a serious country,” Flynn tweeted.
Flynn also pointed out that Cameron had been involved in a lobbying scandal earlier this year, when he tried to influence the government on behalf of Greensill Capital, a financial firm that collapsed in March. Flynn said that Cameron had shown ‘a complete lack of judgement and integrity’ and that he should not be trusted with the UK’s foreign policy.
