Originally Posted by
The Oberon
Bit of a delicate but serious question. Jeremy Hunt has a Chinese wife, would he have been given the clearances to do Defence?
And which is probably why Williamson is now at Education - as far as the keepers of the secrets are concerned be likely represented too much of a risk to be given anything more sensitive than a board duster.
But as well as Hunt, you've got a US born PM whose great grandfather was Turkish and a Chancellor and Home Sec who both are only 1st generation UK and had they been in the military would have struggled to get clearances for more sensitive branches. That said, Ministers don't have formal clearances in the same way we do - Mordaunt was an exception given her role in the Navy Reserves. To make them get clearances would be seen as the Administration having power over elected Executives. I get that, but it does entail a degree of risk.