PM’s tight rein on Cabinet defended
BORIS Johnson’s decision to impose tight restrictions on his new Chancellor has been defended as his new-look Cabinet met for the first time.
The Prime Minister’s reshuffle was dominated by Sajid Javid’s decision to quit Mr Johnson’s top team after he was ordered to fire his closest aides and replace them with advisers chosen by Number 10.
Mr Javid accused the PM of setting conditions “any self-respecting minister” would reject – seen as a thinly veiled swipe at his successor, Rishi Sunak.
But Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said Mr Johnson was the sole person in charge of shaping how his top tier of ministers functioned.
“The Prime Minister is very much in charge. He chooses the top team and how they are structured,” he said. “We in Government are completely focused on getting things done, delivering on the priorities of the public – not on special advisers or how Government is run internally.”
He denied that Mr Sunak would be Mr Johnson’s “puppet”, calling him “one of the most talented people in politics”.
Mr Javid had no words of animosity for the PM yesterday. Asked by reporters as he left his home whether he had a message for Mr Johnson, the ex-business secretary answered: “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
His bombshell resignation – less than a month before the Budget – followed an escalation in tensions between the exchancellor and the Prime Minister’s chief adviser, Dominic Cummings.
In August, Mr Cummings fired Mr Javid’s aide, Sonia Khan, and it appeared Number 10 wanted to go further in keeping a close eye on him, a move that had been preceded by Treasury briefings to the press about his support for HS2 and talk of a mansion tax in the forthcoming Budget. Ex-staff and colleagues said he had little choice but to resign following Number 10’s tightening of the reins.
Salma Shah, a former aide to Mr Javid, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that not being able to choose his own advisers would have been “incredibly detrimental to his decision-making power” in office.
Mel Stride, chairman of the Commons Treasury Committee, said: “I think he, probably more by accident than design, was put into a position where it was extremely difficult for him to swallow that and move on.”
Downing Street has so far refused to guarantee that next month’s Budget will go ahead as scheduled, with a spokesman saying only that “extensive preparations have already been carried out for the Budget and they will continue at pace”.
Julian Smith, who was sacked as Northern Ireland secretary despite helping to get Stormont up and running after three years of deadlock, said his post-ministerial plans involved going to the pub.
The ex-chief whip told Sky News: “I think my future plans involve things like going to the pub and I’m now going to my constituency.”