The chancellor sajid javid resigns in a shock move during the Prime Ministers government reshuffle. Its understood mrjavid rejected an order to fire his team of advisers. He had been due to deliver his first budget in four weeks time. Out, too, are Theresa Villiers, andrea leadsom, esther mcveigh, and the Northern Ireland secretary julian smith, who oversaw the restoration of devolved government at stormont. Well bring you all the latest from our correspondents on a tumultuous morning in westminster. Also this lunchtime the Prime Minister and his new year holiday on mustique questions continue over who footed the bill for his accommodation. A steep rise in the number of deaths from coronavirus in china yesterday was the deadliest day of the outbreak so far. Ministers announce an independent inquiry into Maternity Services at an nhs trust in east kent
after the deaths of a number of babies. And remembering dresden 75 years after british aircraft started an aerial attack that devastated the east german city. And coming up in the sport later in the hour on bbc news. Odion ighalo is made to train away from the Manchester United squad as a precautionary measure because of the coronavirus. Good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. The Prime Ministers government reshuffle took a dramatic turn this morning, as the chancellor sajid javid resigned from the cabinet. Its understood he was offered the opportunity to stay on, but only on condition that he fire all his advisers,
which he refused to do. Hell be replaced by another treasury minister, rishi sunak. The shock resignation has dominated Boris Johnsons first reshuffle since his election victory in december. A string of other senior ministers have gone, including the Northern Ireland secretaryjulian smith, who oversaw the restoration of devolved government in stormont. So have the business secretary andrea leadsom, and the environment secretary, Theresa Villiers. The attorney general, geoffrey cox, who attended cabinet has resigned. The foreign secretary dominic raab remains in place, as does the home secretary priti patel. Our Political Correspondent chris mason has this report on the mornings events, and a warning it does contain some flash photography. At half past ten this morning. And i am sorry, we are having a bit of trouble there. Our chief Political Correspondent, vicki young, is in downing street. And a bombshell this morning with the resignation of sajid javid . And a bombshell this morning with the resignation of sajid javid . Yes, yesterday we were all thinking this reshuffle could be on the boring side but it hasnt turned out like that. Downing street yesterday were saying it was going to be modest. Behind me i like sharma has been given the newjob and a promotion as business secretary. Sharma. It is not the promotions that have raised the eyebrows today, it is the resignations. We understand cabinet ministers came in this morning and we re ministers came in this morning and were expecting to see the Prime Minister promptly. In the end they we re minister promptly. In the end they were ina minister promptly. In the end they were in a bit of a queue because sajid javid went in first. He was told by the Prime Minister he wanted him to stay in post but he wanted
things to change. He wanted a joint tea m things to change. He wanted a joint team of advisers with number 11, and sajid javid would have had to have sacked some of his advisers. This is partly him resigning and loyalty to some of those advisers. Hed already seen one of his advisers marched out by an armed policeman after being sacked. But no doubt this is about power as well. Number ten wanted to control the message and the policies, and sajid javid realising this was taking away his influence and his power. In his place rishi sunak, a meteoric rise for someone who was a housing minister not long ago. He walked out with a smile on his face, but actually a lot of work to do because we are only four weeks away from a budget. So rishi sunak leading the way as chancellor, having never delivered one. Thank you. We are in a position to bring you. We are in a position to bring you that report by chris mason. At
half past ten this morning, sajid javid arrived in downing street as chancellor. An hour and a half later he had resigned. Here he was the other day standing loyally behind his boss, but a source says he turned down staying on in government because he refused to see his whole tea m because he refused to see his whole team of advisers sacked as a condition of keeping hisjob. Here is the man taking over the top job at the treasury, rishi sunak. Long seen as a at the treasury, rishi sunak. Long seen as a rising star, he had been mrjavids deputy. How do you feel about taking over in these circumstances . Lots to get on with, thank you very much. Reshuffles, even for governments with a big majority, can and so often do come with big twists. They area often do come with big twists. They are a complicated jigsaw puzzle, and if one piece does not fit for whatever reason, the whole thing can get messy. Not least because you a lwa ys get messy. Not least because you always end up with people who are a
bit miffed. The cabinet minister leaves home and. Have you heard from the Prime Minister already . She soon did, and she was sacked as business secretary. Cue some warm words on social media and a trundle to the backbenches. This wasjulian smith as Northern Ireland secretary last month. This morning the irish Prime Minister said he was one of britains finest politicians of our time. After the british Prime Minister fired time. After the british Prime Ministerfired him. It sounded like he had an inkling his time was up when he went to work. My position is up when he went to work. My position is up to the Prime Minister, it is his call. Might he risk damaging the power sharing progress that has been made with stormont . Only the Prime Minister can choose who is in the cabinet. I have enjoyed serving the people of Northern Ireland, there is more to do but it is up to the Prime Minister and that is his responsibility to choose the cabinet he wants. It is great serving on it, but it is always the prime
ministers call. He will have company on the backbenches, Theresa Villiers has been sacked too, and departed with an almost biblical reflection. And the housing minister esther mcvey is gone too, commenting that she had been relieved of her duties. Sticking around, the foreign secretary dominic raab, as is the home secretary priti patel, and michael gove as Cabinet Office minister. There is a big new cabinet job for this man, alok sharma. This reshuffle is still a work in progress. Stay tuned. Mrjavids departure comes less than a month before the budget. Our business editor, simon jack, is here. A new boss at the treasury, what
difference will that make . We heard earlier this is a concentration of power in number ten, nevertheless number 11 has nominal responsibility for putting together the budget. It is no secret sajid javid had become known as chancellor in name only. He wa nted known as chancellor in name only. He wanted to be an Old Fashioned kind of conservative chancellor who tried to balance the books in a fiscally prudent way. That is not what number ten is looking to do, so the pound has risen quite significantly today on the basis they think the spending ta ps on the basis they think the spending taps can be turned on Even Stronger during the budget. That will mean higher gdp so the pound is gaining. They think they will be more fiscal stimulus, more spending and perhaps fewer tax cuts that sajid javid didnt want to bring in. So more spending perhaps in the budget than previously planned. The other thing, i was talking to one of sajid javids former colleagues at Deutsche Bank and he said this is
classic sajid javid who was a tough boss but very loyal to his staff, so its not a surprise he found it a humiliation too far to cite all of them. Other people i have spoken to said, you do not fire everyone of someones Advisory Team and expect them not to resign. Rishi sunak came in very quickly, as the Prime Minister put it he looked almost over and ready to go if sajid javid did infact over and ready to go if sajid javid did in fact resign, as he did. Simon jack, thank you. The other notable casualty this morning was the Northern Ireland secretary julian smith, who oversaw the resumption of power sharing at stormont. Lets speak to our Northern Ireland political editor, mark devenport, in belfast. And we heard extraordinary praise for mr smith from irelands Prime Minister, bemoaning his loss . Absolutely. Leo varadkar, who himself had just suffered an election defeat, termed mr smith one of britains finest politicians. The dup leader Arlene Foster said that
whilst they didnt agree on every point, that mr smiths dedication to thejob had been incredible. It has been reported one of the issues between downing street and julian smith was to do with the legacy of the troubles and borisjohnsons support for protections for military vetera ns. Support for protections for military veterans. On that score, while sinn fein has not matched the warm words of others, they have expressed real concern as to whether there will be any attempt to rewrite the legacy proposals that julian smith any attempt to rewrite the legacy proposals thatjulian smith was trying to move forward. Many thanks. Labour is calling on the Prime Minister to clarify who paid for his holiday accommodation on a caribbean island over the new year. Our Political CorrespondentJessica Parker is in westminster. And there have been developments on this in the last hour . Yes, some mystery over the last 12 hours or so has surrounded the Prime Ministers stay in mustique with his girlfriend over christmas. That is
after last night david ross, the co founder of carphone warehouse, in a statement told the mail he had not paid for the villa but had actually helped facilitate the holiday. That caused confusion because according to the mps register of interest, the villa valued at £15,000 had been covered by david ross. Downing street insisted everything had been recorded correctly, and in the last hour we have had a new statement from david ross saying, while mr ross facilitated it was done so as a benefit in kind, so therefore the statement is correct. There is no more detail on this, but sources in westminster are suggesting that there was some kind of property swap whereby david ross agreed to give up his own property on the island at a later date in order to facilitate the Prime Ministers stay on the island elsewhere, and there wasnt any kind of cash donation. Until we get total clarity on this, the question is will keep coming. Jessica parker, many thanks. China has announced a sharp increase in the number of People Killed by the coronavirus. Beijing said more than 240 deaths were recorded in Hubei Province yesterday, the worst day yet. There was also a big jump in the number of infections, up nearly 15,000, after authorities introduced a new method of diagnosis. Beijing has sacked two of the most Senior Communist Party officials in hubei. Our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell, reports from beijing. Thousands of medics from the Peoples Liberation army are pouring into wuhan, where the outbreak started, and where exhausted local doctors and nurses are struggling to handle the crisis. In Hubei Province alone over the past 2a hours, an increase of nearly 15,000 extra virus cases initially caused alarm. Officials said this was due to a new way of measuring who is definitely infected. Translation now in hubei
province, to confirm a case, we are adding patients contact history to the diagnosis, like they do in other parts of the country. Symptoms and signs, along with a scan, and medical history, is used to form the diagnosis. In the early stages of this emergency, crucial information about the virus was withheld, causing outrage on social media. Now the two top leaders in Hubei Province have been dismissed. Beijing is struggling with the perception that this failed response was due to a climate of fear inside xi jinpings communist party. Yet a slow start has become an overwhelming response. Its true that we have seen many good things that is slowing the outbreak. This is a very serious virus and china is doing many good things thats slowing the virus and the facts speak for themselves. Globalfear of this
crisis continues. In cambodia, a cruise ship has finally been allowed to dock after being turned away from five ports and nobody tested positive. Injapan, the number of infected on board the quarantined diamond princess has risen again, by 1m. Putting the total number over 200. It is a nightmare. Ijust want to wake up from it and go home. Obviously, ive got to face facts and i have to do as im told. But then i dont want to go home and risk my family and my friends if were not sure that we are clear. The World Health Organization has warned that if this virus is unleashed in a country less able to handle it, the results could be catastrophic. In north korea, there have been no official cases yet but already the International Red cross is calling for an easing of sanctions to allow the isolated nation to prepare for
any outbreak. Dozens of people held in quarantine on merseyside are being released after completing a fortnight in isolation. Theyd been kept at the Arrowe Park Hospital on the wirral since flying back from china. Fiona trott is there. Fiona, there will be great relief for all concerned. Absolutely. A coach left here a few moments ago and some of the people inside were actually waving. That coach has left, another one is behind us we understand getting ready to leave with more of the people who have been here for the past two weeks. What a strange few weeks it has been for them. Evacuated from china, coming to the wirral, signing a form agreeing to be quarantined, wondering if they have the virus and then getting used to the confinement itself. One man left here earlier
shouting, i am free what is also clear is all of the people here are very grateful to the nhs staff for the care they have received. Thank very, very much to everybody at arrowe park, be it the nhs staff, the concierge, all the wonderful people of wirral and wirral council, who have made us so welcome here. Thank you for having us, and fingers crossed we dont see you again. I also want to read you a message that looks like it has been taped onto a window for the staff to read. It says, i didnt want to leave without expressing my deepest gratitude for what you have done. I arrived as a potential carrier of a deadly virus. I was anxious and neednt have been. Not once did i feel you didnt have enough time to speak to me or help me. That person and the 82 others are leaving here today with a certificate to show
they are virus free and that is something the Health Secretary matt hancock has emphasised, each individual has been a clean bill of health and the nation can be assured their departure leaves no risk to their departure leaves no risk to the public. Thank you. Our health correspondent, catherine burns, is with me. The numbers in china have shot up today just remind us why . Yes, there has been fold increase over night, which sounds alarming but its actually not. China has changed the way it counts cases, so until this point it has needed genetic testing to confirm the case. Now it is also including patients who have had a lung x ray and are showing signs of infection which they say will speed up treatment. Really we need to take these numbers with a hefty pinch of salt. The government view here is that we cannot have huge confidence in any of the numbers coming out of china right now because it is taking so long for reality to catch up with the situation on the ground. A ninth case confirmed in the uk, what more can
you tell us about that . Actually something new in the last few minutes. A woman flew in from china to heathrow a few days ago, and some time after landing she started to feel ill. In the last few minutes we heard she then turned up by herself to the a e department at lewisham hospital and staff who were in contact with her have been informed. One final thought for you, there have been many cases tested here in the uk, more than 1300. So far more than 99 of people tested have been absolutely fine. Many thanks. Our top story this lunchtime. Borisjohnsons Cabinet Reshuffle is thrown into disarray, with the shock resignation of the chancellor, sajid javid. And the organised criminal gangs blamed for a surge in fly tipping across england. Coming up in the sport in the next 15 minutes on bbc news. Fallon sherrock prepares to make more darts history
tonight shell be the first woman to take part in a premier league event. The four candidates vying to become the next leader of the labour party have appeared in a 90 minute debate in front of a studio audience on the Victoria Derbyshire pro