Hampshire MP appointed security minister after six die in Plymouth mass shooting
FORMER education secretary Damian Hinds has been appointed as security minister, Downing Street said.
The East Hampshire MP was appointed to the new role by home secretary Priti Patel.
It came hours after Ms Patel expanded her brief to take on the responsibilities of the security minister following criticism of the government for failing to replace James Brokenshire.
Ms Patel said on Friday she is ‘fully sighted and fully aware of everything that goes on’ on security issues.
But the government had faced criticism after failing to replace Mr Brokenshire as security minister, with the UK rocked by both a gunman’s killing spree and the arrest of a British national in Germany on suspicion of spying for Russia.
Asked whether the failure to appoint a new security minister had hindered the government’s ability to respond, Ms Patel said: ‘I would say that that is absolutely not the case.
‘I am the home secretary and I oversee these security issues, and I have been doing that throughout.’