Shock at westminster as sajid javid resigns as chancellor in the middle of the Prime Ministers reshuffle. He was asked to stay on but refused after the Prime Minister ordered him to sack his entire team of advisers. I dont believe any self respecting minister would accept such conditions and so, therefore, ifelt the best thing to do was to go. He was quickly replaced by 39 year old rishi sunak, his deputy at the treasury whos had a meteoric rise. A relative newcomer tonight in one of the biggestjobs in government, a more dramatic today than anyone had expected. Also tonight. One of the 15 babies whose deaths could have been prevented families welcome an independent review into maternity services
at east kent nhs trust. China at war with the coronavirus theres been a record rise in the death toll and the number of people infected has soared dramatically. And rewriting the text books. Nasa scientists on how the planets in our solar system were really formed, its being hailed as a major discovery. Coming up in sportsday, israel Folau Catalan dragons coach says he shouldnt be given a life sentence for making homophobic remarks, ahead of a super league this weekend. Good evening. The chancellor sajid javid has resigned suddenly in the middle of the Prime Ministers reshuffle. Borisjohnson said he wanted him to stay on but ordered him to fire his entire team of advisers. Mrjavid refused to do that saying no self respecting minister could accept such a condition. Hes walked out of his job just four
weeks before he was due to deliver his first budget and was quickly replaced by his deputy at the treasury 39 year old rishi sunak. Heres our Political Editor laura kuenssberg. How tight is number tens grip on power . A reshuffle billed as just another day. Officials huddling to make sure it is all in order. Sajid javid expected to keep his number 11 home. But, then. So, he turned it down because the pm said he wanted him to stay, but he had to replace his whole team of advisers. For a moment, it wasnt quite clear what was going on. Taken an unexpected turn. There is dominic raab. What do you make of the chancellor having to resign, dominic raab . Number ten had demanded mrjavid sack his own team in return for keeping hisjob. A loss of influence he wouldnt wear. Why have you resigned, mrjavid . So, the man who had been the second most important person in the government returned home to west london with a rucksack, not a red box. The conditions that were attached was a requirement that i replace all my political advisers. These are people that have worked incredibly hard on behalf of not just the government but the whole country, done a fantasticjob. I was unable to accept those conditions. I dont believe any self respecting minister would accept such conditions. And, so, therefore, ifelt the best thing to do was to go. Were those conditions imposed by mrcummings . Those were the conditions requested by the Prime Minister. That was, of course, his prerogative, and, as i say, my successor has my full support. So, walking in in his place, a rising star in tory circles. Were you expecting a promotion today . You are widely tipped as on the way up. Ive absolutely no idea. Rishi sunak unaware first thing this morning just how high he was about to soar. A pleasure to be a part of the government. Emerging as the brand new chancellor. Has number 11 become an annex of the Prime Minister . Number 10a . Will you have any power if number tens in charge, chancellor . The start of the day had followed a more predictable script. While workmen were shuffling an actual cabinet around parliament, the Prime Minister was there to do the firings before the hirings. Andrea leadsom tight lipped after she lost a cabinet seat she had held for years. Mr mcveigh slipped in early to be booted out from housing. Julian smith, who got the government in Northern Ireland back up and running, was axed. I think my position is up to the Prime Minister. It is his. His call. We shall enjoy the nice weather we have today. Jacob rees mogg and his chalk stripes hung on as leader of the house, along with plenty of other serving ministers. Anne marie trevelyan, the northumberland mp and former defence minister, becomes the boss of the department for international development. Looking forward to your promotion . Oliver dowden the new culture secretary, who had been at the cabinet office, the government machine. Are you looking forward to your newjob . Yes, of course, thank you. Six entrants to the cabinet got newjobs today but the neighbourly trouble between numbers ten and ii is the biggest headline of all. This was meant to be a moderate, move along, not much to see kind of reshuffle. Not a bit of it. The departure of the chancellor is a huge event, a huge moment for any government but this time it represents something else. A sign of a number ten that wants total dominance, to be in complete control. Borisjohnsons team is adamant this is no power grab. They just want less friction at the top. This is a downing street operation, though, that will not hesitate to clip almost anyones wings. Laura kuenssberg, bbc news, downing street. Tonight, in his resignation letter, mrjavid pointedly urged the Prime Minister to ensure the treasury retained as much credibility as possible. And he said it was important that leaders had people around them who could give clear and candid advice. Our economics editor faisal islam looks now at the tensions between the Prime Minister and the former challencellor, and the challenges that await his successor. Its only two days since the Prime Minister and his then chancellor joined forces to back High Speed Rail in birmingham. Sajid javidsjob had been guaranteed, but he didnt look too comfortable, as the relationship between no 10 and ii was itself coming off the track. Partly because no 10 wants other hard hat, high viz big spend moments exactly like this beginning at the budget in a months time. Yeah i would, love to. Famously the son of a bus driver, this chancellor never got to use his budget red box. He spoke to the bbc though about how a stalling economy could be boosted by spending. Weve now got this pro business government thats investing in infrastructure, which is what businesses want to see, that is why im standing in a bus depot today. But exactly how much investment is the issue. Mrjavids new rules on borrowing have meant the treasury having to consider tax rises to fund some of the extra spending. There is nothing abnormal about the treasury having a tense relationship with other parts of government. It is the veryjob of this institution to say no, even to a Prime Minister and his aides, on issues of finance. So it is impossible not to see todays extraordinary developments in the context of no 10 asserting itself over no 11 at a time when it wants to spend and borrow more and that raises key questions of credibility for the newly promoted chancellor. So who is rishi sunak . Hes just 39 years old and married to the daughter of an indian it billionaire. He made a fortune of his own, before going into politics. He got his firstjob in government just two years ago, as a junior minister, before moving to the treasury. Now hes chancellor, in control of the nations finances, he could now loosen the borrowing constraints hes inherited. The Prime Minister is such a fan that he chose him as a stand in in last years noisy tv election debates. Nicola sturgeon . If i could just say on spending. Nicola sturgeon . The then chancellor shared a trip to see the new Star Wars Film with his deputy and now replacement. Mrjavid did win some epic battles against top aides of the pm today, no 10 strikes back. Sojulian smith who has been widely acclaimed for his work as Northern Ireland secretary was one of those who was sacked in the reshuffle. Mr smith was appointed just seven months ago and oversaw a monumental talks process that led to the Northern Ireland parties agreeing a deal to restore a power sharing government at stormont after three years of deadlock. He will be replaced by the former security minister Brandon Lewis. This report from our ireland correspondent chris page contains some flashing images. The home of Northern Irelands devolved government is bright and busy again. But the man who saved stormont couldnt save his own job. Just five weeks ago, julian smith challenged politicians to bring back devolution. We have never ignored the issues are difficult and that reaching agreement would be easy, but now is decision time. That characteristic straight talking worked the local parties returned to the power sharing table, but when Boris Johnson visited a few days later, he congratulated his minister. He has done a great job and he certainly has a bright future. But mr smith had differences with the Prime Minister, not least over brexit. This morning he was trying to hold on. I enjoy serving the people of Northern Ireland, we have done a lot of really good stuff. Theres a lot more to do. After his sacking, theres been
an unusual chorus of political praise for the former Northern Ireland secretary. Holders of the job dont tend to be popular, butjulian smith has generated real respect for what he as achieved here. The stormont first minister, arlene fosters of Democratic Unionist Party said his dedication to the role was incredible. Irish nationalist politicians dont often get on with conservatives, but they did with this one. It is not like me to be praising a tory secretary of state, but he is a good man, he cared about this place and worked hard. We had our disagreements, but we were able to work well together. I think he was the best secretary of state weve seen in a decade actually. And child abuse survivors thanked mr smith for setting up a Compensation Scheme they had waited years for. Its outrageous actually, we are very, very angry that such a man of his integrity could be put out of hisjob, you know, that Northern Ireland took him upon as one of oui own. Now, this mans taking charge of the Northern Ireland office. One of many sensitive issues Brandon Lewis will face is the question of how unsolved killings from the troubles should be investigated. Chris page, bbc news, belfast. Lets get more from laura in westminster. Lets talk about the resignation of the chancellor. How much of a power grab by numberten the chancellor. How much of a power grab by number ten is this . the chancellor. How much of a power grab by number ten is this . A couple of weeks ago, if someone had told me sajid javid was going to be booted out in the reshuffle, i wouldnt have been that surprised, there were well advertised tensions between the teams at number ten and ii but that was not the expectation when the reshuffle began this morning, not at all, and the way it has unfolded has been something of a surprise which is what is really significant about this. Is this a disaster for number ten . They just this. Is this a disaster for number ten . Theyjust dont see it that way. Is it on the other hand some kind of deliberate, sinister, masterstro ke kind of deliberate, sinister, masterstroke where they were trying to get rid of the chancellor . I dont think it was that, either. Number ten seems genuinely to have
been hopeful sajid javid would have said yes to this plan that would have clipped his wings, got rid of some of his advisers but allowed him to stay on in a top job. But he also had a sense this might be coming. Im told he talked about this with friends in the last couple of days and he was pretty clear she might have to walk. Number ten didnt actually get their way straightforwardly, in terms of deliberately showing him the door. What i think we can take away from thatisit what i think we can take away from that is it shows today downing street made a Political Choice to put control over keeping personnel the Prime Minister genuinely values. In the short to medium term, that might mean they have a more pliant neighbour next door, although i dont think rishi sunak will be anything like a pushover. It might be easierfor them to anything like a pushover. It might be easier for them to keep the promises theyve made so publicly. But it also runs the risk of creating bad blood inside the tory party about just how this downing street operation is really behaving
because decisiveness is one thing. Being ruthless for the sake of it, quite another. Laura kuenssberg, thank you. And you can get all the details on whos in and whos out of the cabinet online at bbc. Co. Uk politics. Theres to be an independent review into Maternity Care at east kent nhs trust following concerns and confusion about the number of preventable deaths of babies. In a bbc interview yesterday, the trusts chief executive said there had been six or seven avoidable deaths since 2011, but today a Board Meeting heard there were possibly 15 deaths. From kent our social affairs correspondent, Michael Buchanan reports. We didnt get to hold harry until the day that he died. Im so glad we got to spend those seven days with him and see him. It means he was a real, living human being for those seven days and that means everything to us. Our son harry died, because of a number of serious and preventible failures in the medical care and
treatment that he and my wife sarah received and which amounted to neglect. Since harry richfords wholly avoidable death in 2017, his family have fought to reveal the failings that caused his death and that of other babies in east kent. Today, their campaign has taken a huge step forward, when the government announced Maternity Care at the trust will be scrutinised. Nhs england and nhs improvements will be commissioning an independent inquiry that has been decided this morning. The inquiry will look back at preventible deaths or injuries at at preventable deaths or injuries at the trust over a number of years and will be chaired by bill kircup, who investigated the Morecambe Bay maternity scandal. The announcement of the inquiry was made as the trust board were meeting in there. For 10, maybe 15 minutes, they had no idea what the minister had said and it certainly wasnt what they were expecting. The trust say tonight they welcome the inquiry, but harry richfords father gave
his qualified support. What they need to do is let all of the skeletons out of the closet, under the carpet, everything thats been buried, it all needs to come out and hopefully that is what this investigation will do. If that can happen and they can begin to rebuild the trust from the very bottom and make sure it is a safe and secure place, with a good quality reputation going forwards. The trust say they now believe there have been 15 preventable baby deaths since 2012, having yesterday told us there was six or seven. But they still deny they were at fault over the death of fletcher aitken. He died in 2017 from, a fungal infection. His mother sees the inquiry as the familys chance to getjustice. He wasnt treated for a fungal infection, he was treated for every other infection other than what he actually had. And this is the opportunity for you to get to the truth . Absolutely. Yes, for me, for my family and for fletcher. He was a living person. I held him, he looked at me, he was a living baby. Michael buchanan, bbc news, kent. China has announced a sharp rise in the number of People Killed by the coronovirus. Beijing said that yesterday more than 240 deaths were recorded in hubei, the province at the centre of the outbreak, bringing the countrys death toll to almost 1,400. The total number with the virus also soared to almost 60,000. Thats partly because of changes in the way officials there are diagnosing people. Here, a ninth case has been confirmed. More on that in a moment, but, first, from beijing our correspondentjohn sudworth reports. Chinas at war with this virus, flying in extra supplies and a reinforcement of 2,600 extra troops. But there is still deep confusion about the enemy they are fighting, how many it has infected and how many it is killing. Until now, only those with a positive lab test
were counted as confirmed cases, but lab tests take time. Now patients confirmed by much quicker ct scans are being included. Its slightly less reliable, but it means the number of cases has rocketed. What is far more worrying is the big leap in deaths. The sudden increase is made up of those patients who only had ct scans, not counted before. But are those extra deaths added up from across the past three weeks or are they a new daily count, pointing to a hidden number of similar daily deaths . China hasnt told us. It has been focused on messages of loyalty. These patients had been sworn into a communist committee and it has been settling political scores, removing the boss of the province where the outbreak started. The media are showing hard working heroes stories, too. It is a drivers
wedding anniversary. Come home soon his sign says. His wife is a nurse looking after virus patients and contact with the outside world is forbidden. From beijing, i ask if china can beat the virus. Of course we will win, he says. Even in chinas capital, the impact is felt. This shop is keeping a safe distance from its customers. China is now portraying this as a patriotic fight involving the masses, the enforcement of strict quarantine measures, and the mandatory wearing of face masks. Of course, viruses dont listen to propaganda. They are best beaten with good data and an open and transparent Public Health policy. There is no shortage of fighting spirit but there is so much we still dont know about how this
is going to end. John sudworth, bbc news, beijing. Meanwhile, i