Tories at war
Gove and Johnson accused of leaks PM loses grip on bickering Cabinet
THERESA May’s Tory party was in chaos last night as its Brexit war turned nasty with a string of personal attacks.
THE Tories were last night plunged into chaos as squabbles over Brexit exploded into all-out war.
Allies of Philip Hammond laid into Michael Gove and Boris Johnson, accusing the pair of trying to undermine his bid to bring about a soft exit from the EU to protect British jobs. One branded the pair “dangerous and deranged”.
But another Cabinet minister claimed the Chancellor was behind an “Establishment” bid to prevent the UK’s divorce from ever happening.
And in an astonishing attack on Brexit Secretary David Davis, Mr Gove’s former aide Dominic Cummings branded him “thick as mince, lazy as a toad, and vain as Narcissus”. The unseemly spectacle of key figures tearing into each other in the escalating conflict, highlighted how little control Theresa May now has over her party since losing the Tory majority after her disastrous gamble to call a general election. She will today beg ministers to stop leaking details of heated Cabinet meetings. Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael said: “This dispute has got so out of hand Theresa May should invite Jeremy Kyle along to Cabinet. How can Conservative ministers be expected to negotiate Brexit when they can’t even agree with each other on the basics?
“It’s a sign of a government in turmoil led by a PM who has lost all credibility.”
The opening salvo on a day of bitter infighting came from an ally of Mr Hammond who accused Mr Gove and Mr Johnson of briefing against him in a bid to push through their hard Brexit.
The minister said: “Boris and Michael Gove have behaved so appallingly in recent days that they should disqualify themselves from high office. Everyone knows it’s them behind the briefing against Philip and it’s to do with Brexit.
“They are so obsessed with a hard Brexit they’re prepared to run the economy off a cliff and they don’t like the fact that Philip is pointing out we will lose the next election if we do that. They are dangerous and deranged.”
A counter attack came from the unnamed Cabinet minister who said: “What’s really going on is that the Establishment, the Treasury, is trying to f*** it up. They want to frustrate Brexit.”
Then Mr Cummings waded in with his tirade against Mr Davis. He said the veteran MP “spent the campaign boozing with [Nigel] Farage, predicting defeat and briefing [against] Vote Leave”.
Tory grandee Lord Heseltine last night warned the splits on Brexit would pave the way for a Labour victory at the next election. He said: “They’ve divided the party. And there’s only one conclusion, we will lose an election. A re-run of the last election doesn’t look to me like it would prevent Jeremy Corbyn from winning just those extra seats he needs.” Despite the leaked details of Cabinet meetings and open hostility on show, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling tried to play down the Tory splits over Brexit.
He said: “I don’t see these great divisions that are suggested to me.”
Mrs May’s spokesman said the PM will try to restore some order today when she meets ministers. But he was unaware of any probes into the leaks.
He added: “She will just be reminding them of their responsibilities and making the point that ministers need to be focused on delivering for the public.”
This has got so out of hand May should invite along Jeremy Kyle ALISTAIR CARMICHAEL LIB DEM MP ON INFIGHTING