CHANCELLOR v BORIS: IT’S ALL-OUT WAR
Feud goes nuclear as Johnson tries to claim victory for Brexit deal
THE Cabinet split over Brexit erupted into a bitter all-out war last night after allies of Boris Johnson went on the attack against Philip Hammond.
In an unprecedented clash between the great offices of state, the Foreign Secretary’s supporters claimed that Theresa May’s Florence speech had thwarted the Chancellor’s bid to lock Brit- ain into a five- year transition period after Brexit.
Mr Hammond’s camp reacted swiftly and furiously, calling it ‘total bulls***’. Mr Johnson’s allies then claimed that his bombshell
article last weekend had stopped Mr Hammond from forcing the Prime Minister to adopt a soft Brexit.
But Mr Hammond’s ally exploded: ‘I f****** hate having to deal with Boris on this level. What a shame he feels the need to do this. He is surely not suggesting t hat his article altered policy which had been worked up for months? The Chancellor has always been in favour of a two- to three-year transition.’
The extraordinary row has shattered the fragile truce brokered by Mrs May before her speech in Italy on Friday – and makes a mockery of Mr Johnson’s claim that the Cabinet were like ‘a nest of singing birds’ in their unity.
In other developments following a tumultuous week at Westminster:
Mr Hammond was said to have been so ‘livid’ over an attack by a former aide to Mrs May that an official was dispatched to Downing Street to discover whether it had been sanctioned by No 10;
Leading Tory backbencher Anna Soubry accused Mr Johnson of ‘complacency and hubris’ and said his ‘leadership bid’ lay ‘shredded’;
Insiders claimed Mr Johnson was ‘set up to fail’ by Mrs May when she made him Foreign Secretary;
A Mail on Sunday poll revealed more than half of voters did not trust Mrs May to deliver a good Brexit deal following her Florence speech;
Plotters urged Mr Johnson and Environment Secretary Michael Gove to threaten a joint resignation at last Thursday’s Cabinet meeting if Mrs May announced plans for a ‘soft’ Brexit;
An ally of Brexit Secretary David Davis claimed that up to 50 Tory MPs want Mrs May to step down. Other rebels put the figure at just under 30.
At Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, Ministers agreed that Mrs May should propose a two-year transition after Brexit from March 2019, and make a ‘ generous offer’ to pay a divorce bill of at least £20 billion.
The Foreign Secretary’s 4,000-word article last weekend had overshadowed the run- up to Mrs May’s speech and triggered fresh speculation about his leadership ambitions. His allies suggested his intervention reduced the transition period and stopped Mrs May adopting the so- called ‘Norway model’, in which the UK would stick to EU rules for access to the single market – claims that the Chancellor’s camp rubbished.
But the Johnson ally said: ‘Boris managed to get the transition period down massively.
‘The Treasury originally wanted up to five years, and Hammond was pushing for four years recently. Before his article we were heading towards a Norway model – now we end up leaving completely.’ During the Cabinet meeting, Mr Hammond was seen ‘rolling his eyes’ at remarks by Brexit supporters. Relations between Mr Hammond and Mrs May have also been cool. The main flashpoint has been her former chief of staff Nick Timothy – dubbed ‘Rasputin’ because of the beard he used to sport – who Mr Hammond believed was trying to influence Mrs May in favour of a hard Brexit. The pair clashed repeatedly before Timothy resigned over the Election disaster, but tensions flared up again after Timothy publicly accused the Chancellor of being ‘on manoeuvres’ and failing to ever ‘mention the positives of leaving the EU’.
The Treasury believes Timothy still exerts an influence over Mrs May, and even contributed to the Florence speech. A source said: ‘Philip cannot believe that Timothy is still out there attacking him. An official tried to discover what No 10 had known about it, and was told it was nothing to do with anyone there.’
Mr Hammond’s hand has also been strengthened by this weekend’s cut in the UK’s credit rating by Moody’s, which it attributed to the ‘economic uncertainty’ of Brexit – a development he has warned of.
Last night, Remain- supporting Tory MP Anna Soubry, an ally of Mr Hammond, joined the attack on Mr Johnson, telling The Mail on Sunday: ‘Mrs May put Boris Johnson back in his box by making it abundantly clear that she is the person in the driving seat. Beside her is the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, whose wise advice on Brexit has clearly been heeded. After the Florence speech, Boris’s leadership bid lies like last week’s newspaper article: shredded in Larry the No 10 cat’s litter tray.’ Ms Soubry added that ‘like Icarus, Boris’s flight as Foreign Secretary has been marred by both complacency and hubris. His inevitable crash from the highest office will no doubt be cushioned by a lucrative newspaper column’. But former Brexit Minister David Jones warned Mrs May that he and other Leave-supporting MPs ‘will maintain a relentless watch to make sure there is no backsliding’. He added: ‘ Two years is quite long enough. She rightly ruled out Hammond’s preference for a threeyear stint or longer in the EU departure lounge.’ Mr Timothy denies contributing to Mrs May’s Florence speech and says that No 10 did not know in advance that he was going to criticise the Chancellor. A Treasury spokesman said she was ‘not getting into’ the issue of his role.
‘Boris’s leadership bid now lies shredded’