Dominic Raab Now Running The Country As Boris Johnson Fights Coronavirus
Joe Roberts Tuesday 7 Apr 2020 8:48 am

Dominic Raab is now running the country as Boris Johnson fights coronavirus, a senior minister has confirmed.

Michael Gove revealed the Foreign Secretary is ‘in charge’ and will be ‘leading the effort’ after the Prime Minister was put into intensive care in hospital last night.

The PM was moved to the critical unit at St Thomas’ Hospital as part of his ongoing treatment for coronavirus. He was understood to be conscious when he was moved there as a ‘precaution’ at about 7pm, but Mr Gove said he has not been on a ventilator.

When asked ‘who is in charge’ on Good Morning Britain, Mr Gove said: ‘The first thing to say is the person who is running the country…is Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary.

He added: ‘I hope I’ve been clear, Dominic Raab is in charge, we don’t talk about national security matters.’

Mr Raab’s first job as stand-in PM on Tuesday will be to lead the Government’s emergency daily coronavirus ‘war Cabinet’ meeting with senior colleagues and the UK’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, and chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance.

The Foreign Secretary has vowed to follow the PM’s ‘direction’ for tackling the deadly virus, although he admitted at the Number 10 press briefing that the pair last spoke on Saturday.

When Mr Gove was asked if the Foreign Secretary would have the same power as the PM to hire and fire people in Cabinet, he replied: ‘The Prime Minister always remains the Prime Minister but I don’t think there’s any suggestion of anything other than a great team spirit in government as we all work together at this time.’

Mr Gove said he could not comment about national security matters when asked if responsibilities connected to nuclear attack had been passed on to Mr Raab.

He also said any decisions about the lockdown would be ‘taken collectively following appropriate advice’, adding on the issue of a national government: ‘I don’t think anyone is talking in those terms, no.’

When asked if Mr Raab had been handed the nuclear codes while the PM receives treatment, Mr Gove said: ‘There are well developed protocols which are in place.’

‘I just really cannot talk about national security issues,’ he said.

The United Kingdom is one of the world’s five official nuclear weapon states and has four nuclear submarines armed with Trident II D5 ballistic missiles loaded with nuclear warheads. The United Kingdom has a stockpile of about 215 nuclear warheads, though about 120 are operationally available.

Only the British prime minister can authorise a nuclear strike. Such an order would be transmitted to one of Britain’s nuclear submarines with a special set of codes.

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/07/dominic-raab-now-running-country-boris-johnson-fights-coronavirus-12519831/

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