Cabinet discussions must remain private, warns Prime Minister
May in call for Cabinet confidentiality
THERESA MAY has warned Ministers that Cabinet discussions should remain private as Boris Johnson mounted a fresh push for extra spending for the NHS.
The Foreign Secretary let it be known that he intended to use the meeting of the Cabinet to press for an additional £5bn for the NHS after Britain leaves the EU. But as Ministers gathered in No 10, he was pre-empted by the Prime Minister who told the meeting any “Brexit dividend” would be allocated according to the Government’s priorities – including schools and housing as well as health.
In the hour-long discussion that followed, there appeared to be exasperation at Mr Johnson’s latest intervention, with Ministers backing Mrs May’s view that their talks should stay confidential.
But despite frustration at the way Mr Johnson’s intentions became public knowledge, it is understood there was some support around the Cabinet for his position. The Foreign Secretary’s fellow Vote Leave campaigners Michael Gove and Chris Grayling supported his call for the NHS to benefit from the “Brexit dividend”, and Health and Social Care Secretary Jeremy Hunt would also welcome extra funding.
Downing Street made clear Ministers had concerns about the privacy of Cabinet talks.
BORIS JOHNSON’S call for extra spending on the NHS after Brexit has been backed by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, despite divisions within the Cabinet over the Foreign Secretary’s intervention over funding for a different government department.
The Foreign Secretary’s decision to make clear he would use yesterday’s Cabinet meeting to press for an additional £5bn for the NHS attracted a rebuke from Theresa May, who warned Ministers they should keep such discussions private.
But despite exasperation at Mr Johnson’s intervention, with Ministers backing the Prime Minister’s view that Cabinet talks should stay confidential, it is understood there was some support around the table for his position.
In a move that could put pressure on Mrs May to boost NHS spending, Mr Hunt later told the Commons Health Committee: “I don’t think any Health Secretary is ever going to not support potential extra resources for his or her department.”
The Prime Minister had preempted Mr Johnson as Ministers gathered in No 10, telling the meeting any “Brexit dividend” would be allocated according to the Government’s priorities – including schools and housing, as well as health.
In the hour-long discussion that followed, there was frustration at the way Mr Johnson’s intentions became public knowledge, although some Ministers backed his overall position.
As well as Mr Hunt, the Foreign Secretary’s fellow Vote Leave campaigners Michael Gove and Chris Grayling supported his call for the NHS to benefit from the “Brexit dividend”.
Downing Street made clear that senior Ministers had concerns about the privacy of Cabinet talks.
“The Prime Minister and a large number of Ministers made the point that Cabinet discussions should remain private,” Mrs May’s official spokesman said.
He said that while most members had contributed to the discussion, no Minister had mentioned a “specific number in relation to NHS funding”.
Earlier, Mr Johnson’s intervention drew a withering rebuke from Chancellor Philip Hammond, who made clear the NHS was not his department.
“Mr Johnson is the Foreign Secretary,” he told reporters as he arrived for a meeting of EU Finance Ministers in Brussels.
“I gave the Health Secretary an extra £6bn at the recent Budget and we will look at departmental allocations again at the spending review when that takes place.”
There was also an angry response from some Tory MPs, with former Minister Anna Soubry warning Mrs May he would bring her down unless she sacked him. The row broke out amid signs of growing frustration among some backbenchers at the Government’s performance, prompting renewed speculation that the Foreign Secretary was “on manoeuvres”.
Last week he again drew attention to his controversial claim during the EU referendum that leaving the bloc would release an additional £350m a week to spend on the NHS, claiming the figure was actually an underestimate.
Ms Soubry, a prominent proEU campaigner, said the time had come for the Prime Minister to get rid of him. He had shown “longstanding incompetence and disloyalty” and unless Mrs May acts now “Boris will bring her down”, she said.
Mrs May’s former chief of staff Nick Timothy hit out at Mr Johnson. “Breaching collective responsibility and leaking Cabinet discussions are bad enough but part of political life,” he said. “But pre-briefing your disagreement with Government policy ahead of Cabinet?”
Justice Minister Phillip Lee said “now was not the time” for such a debate, adding: “I’m getting on with my own job – as should others.”
Speculation that Mr Johnson was attempting to engineer a row in order to resign or be sacked over a matter of principle were dismissed as “utter nonsense” by his allies.