00:00 Are you the new defence secretary?
00:04 Former Energy Security Secretary Grant Schaps has replaced Ben Wallace as Rishi Sunak's
00:09 defence secretary.
00:11 It brings an end to Mr Wallace's four years in the role, during which he served under
00:16 three prime ministers.
00:17 Mr Schaps has held a variety of cabinet roles since the Conservatives took office in 2010,
00:23 including one week as Home Secretary during the short-lived Liz Truss premiership.
00:28 Is it time to resign?
00:30 This is his fifth role in the space of a year, and his first ever in the Ministry of Defence.
00:36 His cabinet experience and confidence as a communicator will be greatly valued by the
00:40 prime minister, with the general election on the horizon.
00:44 So what do we know about the MP for Welling Hatfield?
00:48 Well he is married with three children and is a cousin of the Clash guitarist Nick Jones.
00:53 He was in a car crash in Kansas in 1989 at the age of 20, which left him in a coma for
00:59 a week.
01:00 Ten years later he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, making a full recovery after chemotherapy.
01:07 In 2005 he was elected MP to the Hertfordshire constituency, which he represents to this
01:12 day.
01:14 What can Grant Schaps expect in his new job?
01:17 Well Ben Wallace wrote in his resignation letter that he genuinely believes the world
01:21 will get more insecure and more unstable over the next decade.
01:26 So funding for the armed forces and increasing troop numbers will feature highly in Mr Schaps'
01:32 intre.
01:33 As will the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, an issue with which he is familiar through his
01:38 former energy security brief.
01:41 And then there's the challenge posed by China to national security.
01:44 Foreign Secretary James Cleverley has recently visited Beijing in an effort to ease tensions
01:49 between the country and the West.
01:52 However, Labour believes the change in Defence Secretary will make little difference.
01:57 It really doesn't matter how many new jobs Rishi Sunak gives to his friends, it's still
02:03 moving the deck chairs, there's still a sinking ship.
02:06 This country really needs change and the only change that they're going to get is if we
02:11 get a Labour government and we get a Labour government soon.
02:14 Mr Schaps leaves behind a department accused of rowing back on environmental commitments
02:20 and net zero aims.
02:22 The appointment of Rishi Sunak's ally Claire Coutinho as the new energy security secretary
02:27 suggests little will change to reverse that.
02:30 Are you ready to tackle the global energy crisis Ms Coutinho?
02:33 Are you excited?
02:34 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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