New Cabinet in full

New Cabinet in full
The new Cabinet has now been fully revealed, after a weekend of gradual releases. Here it is, in full.Law officersAttorney general - Baroness Scotland of Asthal Solicitor general - Vera Baird Advocate general for Scotland - Lord Davidson of Glen Clova HM treasuryFinancial secretary - Stephen Timms Minister of state - Phil Woolas (jointly with the Home Office) Economic secretary - Ian Pearson (jointly with the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) Exchequer secretary - Angela Eagle Financial services secretary - Paul Myners Foreign and Commonwealth OfficeMinister of state (Europe) - Caroline Flint Minister of state (Middle East and Africa) - Lord Malloch-Brown Minister of state - Bill Rammell Parliamentary under secretary of state - Gillian Merron Ministry of justiceMinister of state - David Hanson Minister of state - Michael Wills Parliamentary under secretary of state - Bridget Prentice Parliamentary under secretary of state - Shahid Malik Parliamentary under secretary of state - Lord Bach Parliamentary under secretary of state - Maria Eagle (jointly with the government Equalities Office) Home OfficeMinister of state - Phil Woolas (jointly with HM Treasury) Minister of state - Vernon Coaker Parliamentary under secretary of state - Meg Hillier Parliamentary under secretary of state - Alan Campbell Parliamentary under secretary of state - Admiral Lord West of Spithead Department Of HealthMinister of state - Dawn Primarolo Minister of state - Ben Bradshaw (and minister for the south west) Minister of state - Phil Hope (and minister for the east Midlands) Parliamentary under secretary of state - Lord Darzi of Denham Parliamentary under secretary of state - Ann Keen Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory ReformMinister of state - Pat McFadden Minister of state - Gareth Thomas (jointly with Department for International Development) Parliamentary under secretary of state - Ian Pearson (jointly with HM Treasury) Parliamentary under secretary of state - Stephen Carter (jointly with Department for Culture, Media and Sport) Parliamentary under secretary of state - Baroness Shriti Vadera (jointly with Cabinet Office) Department For Environment, Food And Rural AffairsMinister of state - Jane Kennedy Minister of state - Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (jointly with Department of Energy and Climate Change); and deputy leader of the House of Lords Parliamentary under secretary of state - Huw Irranca-Davies Department for International DevelopmentMinister of state - Gareth Thomas (jointly with the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) Parliamentary under secretary of state - Ivan Lewis Parliamentary under secretary of state - Michael Foster Ministry Of DefenceMinister of state - Bob Ainsworth Parliamentary under secretary of state - Baroness Taylor of Bolton Parliamentary under secretary of state - Quentin Davies Parliamentary under secretary of state - Kevan Jones Office of the Leader Of The House Of CommonsParliamentary secretary - Chris Bryant Equalities Office Parliamentary secretary - Maria Eagle (jointly with the Ministry of Justice) Department for Communities and Local GovernmentMinister of state - Margaret Beckett Minister of state - John Healey Parliamentary under secretary of state - lain Wright Parliamentary under secretary of state - Baroness Andrews Parliamentary under secretary of state - Sadiq Khan Department for TransportMinister of state - Lord Adonis Parliamentary under secretary of state - Jim Fitzpatrick Parliamentary under secretary of state - Paul Clark Department for Children, Schools and Families• Minister of state - Beverley Hughes (and minister for the north west) Minister of state - Jim Knight Parliamentary under secretary of state - Baroness Morgan of Drefelin Parliamentary under secretary of state - Sarah McCarthy-Fry Department of Energy and Climate ChangeMinister of state - Mike O'Brien Minister of state - Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (jointly with Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs); and Deputy leader of the House of Lords Parliamentary under secretary of state - Joan Ruddock Department for Work and PensionsMinister of state - Tony McNulty (and minister for London) Minister of state - Rosie Winterton (and minister for Yorkshire and the Humber) Parliamentary under secretary of state - Jonathan Shaw (and minister for the south east) Parliamentary under secretary of state - Kitty Ussher Parliamentary under secretary of state - Lord MacKenzie of Luton Northern Ireland OfficeMinister of state - Paul Goggins Department for Culture, Media and SportParliamentary under secretary of state - Barbara Follett (and minister for the east of England) Parliamentary under secretary of state - Gerry Sutcliffe Parliamentary under secretary of state - Stephen Carter (jointly with Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) Department for Innovation, Universities and SkillsMinister of state - David Lammy Minister of state - Lord Drayson Parliamentary under secretary of state - Sion Simon Parliamentary under secretary of state - Lord Young of Norwood Green (and Lord in Waiting) Wales OfficeParliamentary under secretary of state - Wayne David Scotland OfficeParliamentary under secretary of state - Ann McKechin Cabinet OfficeMinister for the Cabinet Office and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster - Liam Byrne Parliamentary secretary - Tom Watson Parliamentary secretary - Kevin Brennan Parliamentary secretary - Baroness Shriti Vadera (jointly with the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) Minister for the Olympics and paymaster general - Tessa Jowell Whips - House of CommonsChief whip (Parliamentary secretary to the Treasury) - Nick Brown (and minister for the north east) Deputy chief whip (treasurer of HM household) - Thomas McAvoy Government whip (comptroller of HM household) - John Spellar Government whip (vice-chamberlain of HM household) - Claire Ward Junior Lords Of The TreasuryGovernment whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury) - Steve McCabe Government whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury) - Frank Roy Government whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury) - David Watts Government whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury) - Tony Cunningham Government whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury) - Bob Blizzard Assistant WhipsAssistant government whip - Diana Johnson Assistant government whip - Mark Tami Assistant government whip - Dawn Butler Assistant government whip - Helen Goodman Assistant government whip - Helen Jones Assistant government whip - Ian Lucas Assistant government whip - Ian Austin (and minister for the west Midlands) Assistant government whip - Barbara Keeley Assistant government whip - Chris Mole Whips - House Of LordsLords chief whip (captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms) - Lord Bassam of Brighton Deputy chief whip (captain of The Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard) - Lord Davies of Oldman Baronesses and Lords in waitingBaroness in waiting - Baroness Thornton Lord in waiting - Lord Bach (and parliamentary under secretary of state Ministry of Justice) Baroness in waiting - Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton Lord in waiting - Lord Tunnicliffe Lord in waiting - Lord Young of Norwood Green (and parliamentary under secretary of state, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills) Lord in waiting - Lord Patel of Bradford Lord in waiting - Lord Brett Parliamentary private secretaries to the prime MinisterAngela E Smith Jon Trickett Governmental representativesMalcolm Wicks - special representative of the prime minister on international energy issues working with the secretary of state for energy and climate change Mark Lazarowicz - special representative of the prime minister on carbon trading working with the secretary of state for energy and climate change Jack McConnell - special representative for conflict resolution mechanisms working with the foreign secretary and the secretaries of state for international development and defence The Queen has accepted the following departures from government.At minister of state level• The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MBE MP (temporarily leaving government on compassionate grounds of family illness and will return to government in the spring) • Dr Kim Howells MP • Lord Jones of Birmingham • The Rt Hon Lord Rooker • Malcolm Wicks MP At parliamentary secretary level• Parmjit Dhanda MP • Tom Harris MP • Anne McGuire MP • Meg Munn MP • James Plaskitt MP • Derek Twigg MP Government whips• Baroness Crawley • Liz Blackman MP • Alison Seabeck MP Liam Byrne MP, John Healey MP, Jim Knight MP, David Lammy MP, Pat McFadden MP, Anne McGuire MP, Malcolm Wicks MP and Michael Wills MP be sworn of her majesty's most honourable Privy Council. The Queen has been pleased to signify Her intention of conferring peerages of the United Kingdom for life on Stephen Carter CBE and Paul Myners CBE.

Labour's Glenrothes prospects 'improving'

Lindsay Roy, Labour candidate for Glenrothes
Hopes are rising in Labour ranks that the party may be able to cling on to Glenrothes during next month's by-election.An improved performance since the financial crisis hit home in September and the announcement of the date of the by-election yesterday have served to raise spirits in the Labour camp. Bookmakers William Hill have cut Labour from 3/1 to 5/2 to win, and lengthened the favourites, the Scottish National party (SNP), from 2/9 to 2/7. "After months during which we could barely persuade anyone to back Labour to win anything, we are suddenly starting to take money for them to win the Glenrothes by-election after most political pundits written them off, and assumed it was a certainty that the SNP would be taking it," said William Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe. A Scottish Labour spokesman told politics.co.uk: "Odds come and go, but we'll leave the gambling to Mr Salmond." "Lindsay Roy [the Labour candidate] is a very well-respected local headteacher who has decided to stand for parliament." SNP candidate Peter Grant said: "The SNP campaign has been gathering momentum, but we will never take the support of local residents for granted. "I am working hard for every single vote, and have been really encouraged by the positive response on the doorsteps."

Brown: Days of bonuses are over

Brown: Days of bonuses are over
"The days of big bonuses are over," Gordon Brown has said.Speaking during a GMTV interview before launching a nationwide trip to explain yesterday's bank bailout, Mr Brown continued to emphasis the role of America in the financial crisis, but he accepted there had been irresponsible behaviour in the City of London as well. "Most of this has come out of America and then affected the British banking system, but there have been abuses in our system as well and these have got to be dealt with too," he said. "Where these guys have taken irresponsible risks, that is completely unacceptable. The problem is they didn't know what they were buying from America." The prime minister expressed anger at some of the risks that were taken, in a sign Downing Street is trying to reflect the national mood of resentment against the City. "I'm angry too. I am angry at irresponsible behaviour," Mr Brown said. "Our economy is built around people who work hard, who show effort, who take responsible decisions, and whether there is excessive and irresponsible risk-taking, that has got to be punished." Mr Brown responded to questions about bonuses in the same way he did during prime minister's question time yesterday. There, calls for a pledge on bonuses were met with assurances that banks' exact obligations would be hammered out during individual negotiations. He did, however, adopt a stronger tone about bonus culture. "The days of big bonuses are over. One of the conditions of us helping the banks is that we will have to reach an agreement about their executive remuneration," he said.

Attempt to ban smacking collapses

Attempt to ban smacking collapses
A move by over 100 MPs to ban smacking fell at the first hurdle yesterday, when a government time limit on debate expired.The group of mainly Labour MPs had planned to amend the children and young persons bill to prevent parents from smacking their children. They had previously sent an open letter to Gordon Brown calling for a free vote on the issue as a matter of conscience. But minister believe there is public support on the issue, for the law's current status, whereby parents can chastise their child as long as they never inflict a mark or injury. The issue of smacking last passed through parliament in 2004 when the government saw off a modest rebellion with Conservative support.

Cameron and Clegg rearrange front bench

Greg Clarke
David Cameron and Nick Clegg have rearranged their shadow front benches following the government reshuffle.Greg Clark has been made shadow energy and climate change secretary for the Tories. He will face up to Ed Miliband, who is running the new department. Greg Barker has been made shadow minister for climate change while Charles Hendry becomes shadow minister for energy. Mr Clark's promotion from shadow minister for charities marks a highlight in a meteoric rise through the party ranks. He entered parliament only three years ago in the 2005 general election. Firmly on the more liberal end of the Conservative spectrum, he caused consternation in Tory ranks and considerable bemusement in the media when he called on the party to pay less attention to Winston Churchill and more to left-wing Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee. As a student in Cambridge, he was a member of David Owen's Social Democrat party. Nick Clegg also changed the faces on his front bench team. Steve Webb, former environment spokesman, moves to head the Lib Dems' climate change and energy department. Mr Webb is one of the authors of the infamous Orange Book, which moved the party to the right. Tim Farron takes over his environment brief. John Thurso, the first hereditary peer of the United Kingdom allowed to sit in the Commons without first disclaiming his title, has become business spokesman. Interestingly, Mr Clegg's mini reshuffle does not limit itself to merely reflecting the changes in the government. David Heath has been asked to lead a Commission on Privacy to examine the state of privacy in the UK. "The team I am announcing today is a reflection of the vast talent in the Liberal Democrat party which will be able to hold the new cabinet to account," Mr Clegg said. Three of the men to return to frontline politics - Mr Farron, Mr Heath and new Scotland and Northern Ireland spokesman Alistair Carmichael - previously resigned from the front bench over the party's stance on the EU referendum.

Darling and Brown: World will never be the same

Darling and Brown: World will never be the same
Chancellor Alistair Darling and prime minister Gordon Brown both pointed to fundamental change in the international economic system this morning.Mr Darling called for fresh ideas to solve the global banking crisis, while Mr Brown has called on every bank in the world to increase its capital ratio. Writing in the Financial Times, the chancellor of the exchequer – currently in Washington DC to meet with G7 finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – said: "The world economy is changing. Sticking with the solutions of the past is not an option. Now, more than ever, we need new ideas." He explained the financial crisis and surge in commodity prices had hit every country in the world. "These twin shocks demonstrate the need for new, comprehensive approaches to maintain stability, both in economies and financial markets," Mr Darling wrote. "All forecasters, including the IMF, have been surprised by the profound impact of this shock. Beyond that, it is clear that the global financial system will never be the same, so we must discuss how to strengthen the system for the future." The chancellor wrote in the FT the first challenge was to take action to stop financial collapse and put banks on a firm footing. "Markets cannot do this alone," he said. "Governments have to take the necessary action." Meanwhile, Gordon Brown, writing in the Times, called on other governments to follow the lead of the UK's £50 billion recapitalisation offer to banks. "Every bank in every country must meet capital requirements that ensure confidence," the prime minister wrote. "Just as in the UK we have made at least £50 billion of new capital available, so other countries where banks have insufficient capital will need to take measures to address this. "Only strong and solid banks will be able to serve the global economy." Mr Brown warned: "The potential economic consequences cannot be understated. The role of banks is to circulate the savings from deposits, our pensions and from companies to those that need to spend or invest them. "This paralysis of lending from loss of confidence jeopardises the flow of money to every family and every business in the country." The prime minister also called for greater transparency in the financial markets and promised reformed to encourage "responsible risk-taking". "When risk-taking crosses the line between the responsible entrepreneurship, which we want to celebrate, and irresponsible risk-taking, then we have to take action to see that markets work in the public interest to reflect our shared values," he wrote. The European stock market opened with plunging falls this morning, in a sign global efforts to stabilise the situation have so-far proved unproductive.

Clegg: The relationship between banks and government has changed forever

Nick Clegg at last month's party conference
The relationship between banks and government will never be the same following the current financial crisis, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has said.Speaking exclusively to politics.co.uk just before Alistair Darling's Commons statement yesterday, Mr Clegg said wholesale reform of the banking sector had become inevitable. "We will no longer regard banks as just another business, just another commercial sector," he said. "It's clearly an area now where you need far more intelligent regulation to ensure that banks don't gamble with our money." Mr Clegg argued government had to protect the normal banking activities of consumers from the high-risk strategies employed in investment banking. "The freewheeling, risk-taking culture of investment banking polluted the more conventional functions of retail banking, which is basically to look after our money, look after our saving and make sure they're always available to us," he said. "I think we need to go right back to fundamentals and ask ourselves whether eliminating that distinction was right and, if it wasn't, what new firewalls we put in place. "We need to revisit that," he continued. "We need to do so without any prejudice, but we need to be radical." The comments come as the global markets went into freefall following an uncertain weekend for European leaders. In London, the key UK share index lost 7.85 per cent, its largest drop since 1987, while in New York, the Dow Jones fell below 10,000 points for the first time since 2004. Mr Clegg said the Liberal Democrats early warnings about the state of the economy had gone unheeded by government. "It matters enormously that the Liberal Democrats were the only party to say the housing credit boom was unsustainable," he said. "It matters enormously that we said there were measures which could have been taken four or five years ago to dampen the bubble in bank loaning and the bubble in over-borrowed customers taking on loans to go into the housing market." Yesterday, the party's economic spokesman, Vince Cable, warned the government to be clear with the public about bank deposits, following confusion across the continent about whether Germany was protecting all of its deposits. "People are anxious and the government needs to make it clearer than it is doing, what depositor protection actually means," he said. You can read the full Nick Clegg interview here.

Stashing Cash at Higher Rates

Clegg seeking tax cuts before conference

Clegg launches savage attack on Labour and Tories

Clegg turns knife on Brown ahead of Lib Dem conference