ASIAN-origin Sajid Javid will remain the Chancellor if the Conservatives win next month’s election.
In an address to business leaders in London on Monday (18), British prime minister Boris Johnson promised that the Treasury will continue to be led by Javid.
Johnson told the Confederation of British Industry conference: “I'm going to give you an absolutely categorical assurance that I will keep Sajid Javid as my chancellor. How about that?
“I think he's a great guy, and I think he is doing a fantastic job, and I'm proud to count him as a colleague.”
British prime minister appointed his one-time Conservative leadership rival as Chancellor earlier this year after entering Downing Street.
However, their relationships strained after Johnson’s chief aide Dominic Cummings unilaterally sacked Javid's adviser for purportedly leaking confidential information to her former boss Philip Hammond.
Javid was reportedly fierce with Cummings and his rapport with Number 10 soured.
Yet, throughout this general election campaign, the prime minister and Javid are exhibiting a unity targeting Labour Party’s Jeremy Corbyn.
Meanwhile, Javid today tore into Labour's spending plans.
Writing in City AM, he said: “We will all pay the price for their fantasy economics — it will destroy jobs, burn people's hard-earned pension funds and set our nation back.
“Their latest wheeze for 'free' broadband is their most audacious con trick yet.”
During his address, the prime minister declared that he will postpone a scheduled additional cut to corporation tax in order to free up £6 billion to invest in public services.
The current rate of corporation tax is 19 per cent.
FILE PHOTO: A general view shows British Steel's Scunthorpe plant, in Scunthorpe, northern England, Britain, March 31, 2025. REUTERS/Dominic Lipinski
The FBU is planning to introduce new internal policies and wants the TUC to take action as well. (Representational image: iStock)
FBU chief raises concern over rise in racist online posts by union members
THE FIRE Brigades Union (FBU) and other trade unions are increasingly concerned about a rise in racist and bigoted online comments by their own members and officials, according to Steve Wright, the FBU’s new general secretary, speaking to the Guardian.
Wright said internal inquiries have revealed dozens of cases involving members using racist slurs or stereotypes, often aimed at asylum seekers.
He said similar issues were reported in other unions, prompting a joint campaign to counter false narratives around immigration and race promoted by far-right groups online.
“People with far-right views are becoming more brazen in what they do on social media, and I’ve witnessed it with my own union around disciplinary cases and the rhetoric of some of our own members,” Wright said to the newspaper.
He added, “Some of our members and sometimes our reps have openly made comments which are racist and bigoted. In my time in the fire service, that has gone up.”
The FBU is planning to introduce new internal policies and wants the TUC to take action as well. A formal statement addressing far-right narratives will be launched at the union’s annual conference in Blackpool next month.
Wright cited the influence of social media and figures like Donald Trump and Nigel Farage as factors contributing to these incidents. “It feels like an itch that we’ve got to scratch,” he said.
The FBU barred a former official last year for allegedly endorsing racist content on X, including posts from Britain First and Tommy Robinson.
Wright also warned that the union could strike if the government moves to cut frontline fire services.