Tag Archives: therese coffey

Therese Coffey’s Rwanda Gaffe Has Become A Meme

Posted on by
Reply

Therese Coffey’s Rwanda gaffe has already become the stuff of legend – inspiring a meme based on her “astonishment”.

The deputy PM under Liz Truss made a geographical blunder on Wednesday in the Commons when MPs were debating the Safety of Rwanda Bill.

The Tory backbencher said: “I have to say I’m somewhat astonished by the speech by the shadow home secretary, who can’t even get the name of the country right, talking about the Kigali government.

“Rwanda is a respected country that has recently been president of the Commonwealth.”

Kigali is, of course, the capital of Rwanda and the country’s largest city, and it is common practice to refer to a national government by talking about the capital of the country.

Coffey later (unconvincingly) tried to cover her tracks …

But the “keyboard snipers” had already got stuck in …

Share Button

Farmers’ Union Swipes At Therese Coffey Over ‘Flippant’ Turnip Comments

Posted on by
Reply

David Exwood called on the government to take the food shortages “seriously” after the environment secretary raised eyebrows with her comments.

The cabinet minister told MPs on Thursday it is important to “cherish the specialisms” that we have in this country.

“A lot of people would be eating turnips right now rather than thinking necessarily about aspects of lettuce and tomatoes and similar,” she added.

Exwood said: “We can’t rely on other countries to keep feeding us. So we need a plan that involves producing at home here as well as imports.

“Otherwise the situation we see will carry on. We had a billion less eggs produced in this country last year compared to 2019.

“Apple orchards are being grubbed up as we speak. This is a serious situation.

“We need the government to take it seriously rather than make flippant comments about turnips.”

Some supermarkets introduced customer limits on certain fresh produce, with photographs emerging of empty shelves.

Share Button

Eat Turnips Amid Tomato Shortage, Environment Secretary Therese Coffey Says

Posted on by
Reply

Therese Coffey made the comments when she was questioned by MPs in parliament on Thursday about food shortages.

Tory MP Selaine Saxby had suggested seasonal eating would solve the issue, saying: “The supermarkets are still importing far too many products for us and… actually we should be eating more seasonally and supporting our own British farmers.

“And if we were actually to move to a seasonal line of eating, many of these problems would be avoided… there are great food products available from local farmers at this time.”

Why Is There A Shortage Of Tomatoes And Other Fruit And Veg?

The UK government says it is mainly down to bad weather in Europe and Africa.

High electricity prices are also having an impact on food grown in greenhouses in the UK and the Netherlands.

Tesco, Aldi, Asda and Morrisons have all announced they are rationing salad ingredients for a few weeks.

Coffey replied: “It’s important to make sure that we cherish the specialisms that we have in this country.

“A lot of people would be eating turnips right now rather than thinking necessarily about aspects of lettuce and tomatoes and similar, but I’m conscious that consumers want a year-round choice and that is what our supermarkets, food producers and growers around the world try to satisfy.”

During the exchange, Coffey said the shortages would be a temporary issue that should be resolved in two to four weeks.

A shortage of tomatoes in UK supermarkets has widened to other fruit and vegetables due to a combination of bad weather and transport problems in Africa and Europe.

Some supermarkets have introduced customer limits on certain fresh produce, with photographs emerging of empty shelves.

Lib Dem Wera Hobhouse said Rishi Sunak should call an emergency Cobra meeting to respond to the “national emergency”.

Share Button

Cabinet Ministers Dutifully Declare ‘Support’ For Liz Truss By Posting An Infographic

Posted on by
Reply

Members of the Liz Truss cabinet have rallied round the beleaguered prime minister – but their efforts failed to convince.

On Friday, the plagued mini-budget struck again as the PM sacked her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng as she abandoned plans to freeze corporation tax.

A desperate attempt to reset her premiership saw Truss appoint Jeremy Hunt as Kwarteng’s replacement in the Treasury, which was followed by a press conference that was as short as it was unapologetic.

But some in her top team offered support, taking to Twitter to post an infographic with a quotation from the media briefing, where she said: “We will deliver the strong and sustained growth that can transform the prosperity of our country for generations to come.”

Simon Clarke, the chief secretary to the Treasury, raised eyebrows when he simply tweeted: “The prime minister has my support.”

It also brought to mind footballer Victor Anichebe’s “tweet something like” classic.

Therese Coffey, Ranil Jayawardena and Jake Berry followed.

But Tom Tugendhat, minister of state for security who attends cabinet, resisted adding a message of support to the graphic – while Kemi Bandenoch resisted adding the graphic to her message of support.

The international trade secretary, who came fourth in the Conservative party leadership contest earlier this year, wrote: “To say it’s been a difficult day would be an understatement. We knew the scale of the challenge this autumn given multiple global headwinds would be unprecedented. Our Prime Minister is working flat out to get the country through these turbulent times. She has my full support.”

Share Button

Kwasi Kwarteng Appointed Chancellor In New Liz Truss Cabinet

Posted on by
Reply

Kwasi Kwarteng has been appointed chancellor as Liz Truss made major changes as the new prime minister assembled her new cabinet.

He served as business secretary under Boris Johnson and is a close ally of Truss and early supporter of he leadership bid.

The appointments mean that for the first time in history none of the great offices of state are held by white men.

It follows Therese Coffey being appointed health secretary and deputy prime minister.

Truss began her cabinet reshuffle with a cull of prominent Rishi Sunak supporters, sending Dominic Raab, Grant Shapps and Steve Barclay to the backbenches swiftly after she became prime minister.

She removed the senior figures who had backed her rival in the Tory leadership race promptly after heading to her House of Commons office following her first speech in Downing Street on Tuesday.

Kwarteng, whose appointment to No 11 had been widely expected, replaces Nadhim Zahawi in the Treasury.

Share Button

Therese Coffey Appointed Deputy Prime Minister And Health Secretary

Posted on by
Reply

Liz Truss has appointed Therese Coffey deputy prime minister and health secretary during a major reshuffle of the government.

The new prime minister appointed Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor as she also made James Cleverly the foreign secretary.

Former attorney general Suella Braverman was appointed home secretary, replacing Priti Patel after she pre-emptively resigned.

The appointments mean that for the first time in history none of the great offices of state are held by white men.

Truss began her cabinet reshuffle with a cull of prominent Rishi Sunak supporters, sending Dominic Raab, Grant Shapps and Steve Barclay to the backbenches swiftly after she became prime minister.

She removed the senior figures who had backed her rival in the Tory leadership race promptly after heading to her House of Commons office following her first speech in Downing Street on Tuesday.

Coffey, the former work and pensions secretary who is regarded as Truss’s closest friend in Westminster, replaced Raab as the second in command after he described Truss’s tax plans as an “electoral suicide note”.

Coffey has spelled out her top four priorities. She told Sky News: “I’m just about to enter the department and go to meet our great civil servants I’m going to work with.

“We’ve got priorities A, B, C, D – ambulances, backlogs, care, D – doctors and dentists. And we’re going to work through that and we’ll make sure that we’re delivering for the patients”.

Asked whether she is ready for strikes, Coffey said: “I think we’ve got to be ready for patients and that’s my top priority, and how we can make best use of our department and of course the NHS in order to achieve the best outcomes for them.”

Asked what her message is to potentially demoralised NHS staff, Coffey she recognised “they’ve done excellent work” and repeated her priorities.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Follow HuffPost UK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Share Button