EU chief blasts new British PM’s cabinet picks

European Parliament chief, Martin Schulz, has criticised the Cabinet picks of new British Prime Minister, Theresa May, as part of a “dangerously vicious cycle” that will hurt Britons in the long run.

Mrs. May became Britain’s new prime minister on Wednesday and immediately put together her Cabinet to start the tough job of extracting Britain from the European Union (EU).

According to Schulz, the Cabinet picks were designed more to solve internal party political issues than to promote the national interests of Britain.

In a surprise choice, May named former London Mayor Boris Johnson as her foreign secretary. Johnson led the campaign to drop out of the EU. He angered and frustrated many Brits who voted to remain, along with other European leaders who believe Britain made a great mistake.

May also appointed other Brexit supporters to major Cabinet posts, including former Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond as finance minister and Amber Rudd to May’s old job of home secretary.

“We will work constructively with the newly elected British government in these difficult times, as we have in the past,” Schulz said yesterday in a statement. “However, the composition of the new Cabinet shows that the focus is less on the future of the country but more about satisfying the internal cohesion of the Tory Party.”

Hammond yesterday said he would not submit an emergency budget in response to the Brexit decision, and would instead submit the budget in the fall, as is customary.

Later in yesterday, Hammond was slated to meet with Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, to discuss the British economy moving forward. The meeting came at the same time the bank was preparing to announce whether it would cut the interest rate to below 0.5 per cent to head off any economic fallout caused by Britain ditching the European Union.

May “made clear we will do an Autumn Statement (budget) in the usual way, in the autumn, and we will look carefully over the summer at the situation”, Hammond told Sky News.

Hammond then went on to say that during Brexit negotiations with the European Union, he will push for British access to the European market for London’s financial services.

“It’s not only in London’s interest, it’s in the interest of the European Union as well. London provides a crucial financial service,” he said.

Conservative lawmaker, David Davis, will take the newly formed job of minister in charge of negotiations with the European Union that will set up the conditions for leaving. Those talks are expected to take as long as two years.