THERESA May is set to read the Riot Act to her Cabinet colleagues tomorrow in a bid to stem the spate of malevolent leaks aimed at undermining her Chancellor on Brexit.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman, who said he was not aware of plans for a formal inquiry into the damaging leaks, noted: “Of course, Cabinet must be able to hold discussions on Government policy in private and the PM will be reminding her colleagues of that at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow.”
Asked if she would tell them of the consequences of further leaks, he replied: “She will be reminding them of their responsibilities and making the point that ministers across Government need to be focused on getting on with delivering for the British public.”
When it was put to the spokesman that the fact Mrs May felt compelled to remind colleagues of their responsibilities suggested she believed the leaks had indeed come from within Cabinet, he said: “I’m not going to get into speculation about who said what, where and when. I’m simply saying that Cabinet must be able to hold its discussions on Government policy in private and the PM, as I said, will remind her colleagues of that at tomorrow’s meeting.”
Over the weekend, Philip Hammond hit back at the leaks from last Tuesday’s Cabinet in which he was said to have told colleagues that public sector workers were “overpaid,” a claim he failed to deny, and that trains were so easy to drive nowadays that “even” a woman could do it, a remark he did deny making.
He said: "Some of the noise is generated by people who are not happy with the agenda that I have tried to advance of ensuring that we achieve a Brexit which is focused on protecting our economy, protecting our jobs and making sure that we can continue having rising living standards in the future."
However, the briefing war continued with one Cabinet minister saying: “What's really going on is that the Establishment, the Treasury, is trying to f*** it up. They want to frustrate Brexit.”
The minister added: "This is a critical moment; that's why we have to keep Theresa there. Otherwise, the whole thing will fall apart."
Asked if the PM thought the Chancellor was trying to “f*** it up” on Brexit, her spokesman said: “Look, I’m not getting into anonymous quotes. What I would say is the Government is all working together to deliver Brexit, which delivers on the will of the British people.”
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