Jeremy hunt

Jeremy Hunt started his new job as Foreign Secretary with a bang on Monday with a gaffe that rivalled those of his predecessor Boris Johnson. On a visit to China, Hunt told his hosts that his wife was Japanese. The problem? She is Chinese: ‘Erm, my wife is Japanese. My wife is Chinese, sorry. That is a terrible mistake to make’ Hunt was quick to apologise – and even documented his attempts to make it up to his wife by buying her flowers: In Paris choosing some flowers to bring back to Mrs H pic.twitter.com/iGzWyj0oOA — Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) July 31, 2018 However, Mr S suspects one bouquet won’t cut

Jeremy Hunt might have some explaining to do when he gets home from his trip to China. The Foreign Secretary has been in Beijing drumming up trade for Britain, but during discussions with his Chinese counterparts he accidentally referred to his Chinese wife as Japanese: ‘Erm, my wife is Japanese. My wife is Chinese, sorry. That is a terrible mistake to make’ Oh dear…

You couldn’t get a stronger contrast between the new Foreign Secretary and his predecessor. Jeremy Hunt is a minister who has earned the absolute trust of two Prime Ministers in an extremely politically charged job. He was brought in by David Cameron to clear up the mess after Andrew Lansley’s Health and Social Care Act disaster, and Theresa May kept him in place, quickly learning that he was one of the few ministers she really could leave to their own devices. This was a huge accolade from May, given her propensity to micromanage. Hunt earned that trust because he is a very loyal Cabinet minister. He does not style himself

In conversation with Andrew Neil at a Spectator event this evening, Jeremy Hunt defended the principle of increasing taxes to pay for more spending on the NHS. He warned Tories unhappy with the idea that if in an election you offer voters a choice between a low taxes at all costs party and decent public services, they’ll vote for decent public services. He said that this extra money for the NHS was needed to deal with a ‘once in a generation change in demography’ and that it was important that the Tories show the public they are on the right side of this argument. In language reminiscent of David Cameron,

‘What you can see is someone who has the instincts of a Brexiteer, but the cautious pragmatism of a Remainer, which is where I think the British people are.’ This is how Jeremy Hunt tried to sell Theresa May’s leadership on the Andrew Marr sofa this Sunday. After a choppy few weeks for No. 10, the Health Secretary made clear that he felt May was still the right person for the job of Prime Minister. Perhaps it’s just pure coincidence then that one could also substitute Hunt’s name with May’s in that endorsement. Like May, Hunt is a Remainer turned Brexiteer. A point he also proved on Sunday when he

The Health Secretary joined Andrew Marr this morning for a discussion on the NHS, but it was Hunt’s remarks about business that have caught the headlines. The pan-European aviation company Airbus and car manufacturing giant BMW have said that a no deal Brexit could potentially see them leave the UK, and the organisations have said that they want ‘clarity’ by the end of the summer. Hunt urged people to ignore these ‘siren voices’ and put their faith in the Prime Minister: Health Secretary @Jeremy_Hunt says it is completely inappropriate for businesses like @Airbus to make warnings about moving jobs because of Brexit #marr pic.twitter.com/9lorFsLfYu — The Andrew Marr Show (@MarrShow)

Who is taking all the big, difficult decisions in government at the moment? Not Theresa May, who seems to be caught up in a particularly bad bout of prevarication. Sajid Javid’s announcement today that there will be a review into the use of medicinal cannabis came just 24 hours after his boss said there was a ‘very good reason’ for the current rules being in place. Yesterday May had also tried to block Javid from raising the matter at Cabinet, arguing that it hadn’t been on the agenda. It’s just one example of Cabinet ministers mounting very public campaigns for a policy change which they then get all the credit

Jeremy Hunt has managed to get both Remainers and Brexiteers in a spin this weekend with his appearance on Peston on Sunday. Following reports of growing eurosceptic anger over concessions Theresa May is expected to make on the ECJ in a bid to get ‘sufficient progress’ at this month’s EU council meeting, Hunt said his Parliamentary colleagues have a simple choice – May’s Brexit or no Brexit at all: ‘I think there’s an even bigger point here, that the choice we face now is not between this Brexit and that Brexit; if we don’t back Theresa May we will have no Brexit – and she is doing an unbelievably challenging

Theresa May is back from holiday and the Brexit work continues in earnest. Over the next few days, two key papers – spelling out detail on the customs union and the Irish border – will be published. There’s no doubt, says the Times, that this ‘is a crucial week for Brexit’. ‘After more than a year of disagreement and drift’, there are now some ‘encouraging signs’ that things are slowly being put in order: the joint article written by Philip Hammond and Liam Fox and which was published yesterday advocating a transition period, is one such sign. The publication of reports ‘to flesh out the banal slogans’ touted so frequently so

Labour’s Brexit position is confusing enough for the best of us, but one shadow cabinet minister found a unique reason for being lost for words this morning. The party’s Barbara Keeley appeared to lay into Jeremy Corbyn during an interview on 5 Live – only to backtrack saying she had been referring to a different Jeremy: Jeremy Hunt. Having responded to a question about Corbyn’s stance on free movement – that it should end – Keeley told Nicky Campbell that such a position would only make ‘the situation worse’. But when she was asked to explain why she was laying into the Labour leader, Keeley used an inventive ‘get out of jail’ card: