PM’s ‘rage at Rishi’

PM ‘went tonto and threatened to demote Rishi to health secretary in revenge for leaked letter’

TREASURY insiders were forced to hit back at claims of a rift between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak last night after reports the Prime Minister threatened to demote the Chancellor.

Sources said there were ‘no tensions’ between the Downing Street neighbours despite the PM allegedly going ‘tonto’ in front of staff at a meeting last week.

Mr Johnson was said to be furious about the leak of a letter from the Chancellor calling for the easing of travel restrictions ahead of the relaxations announced last Wednesday. The Prime Minister reportedly told allies that Mr Sunak was guilty of ‘a failure of political judgment’ in writing the letter.

He suggested demoting the Chancellor to Health Secretary – seen as one of the least desirable jobs in Government – at a meeting last Monday, it was reported.

It was claimed the PM had not seen the letter from his Chancellor until it appeared in a newspaper.

But last night sources close to Mr Sunak insisted the pair have a good working relationship compared to former chancellors and prime ministers. A Treasury insider said there is ‘always a tension around how money is spent and the accountability for it’ and suggested the PM was just ‘a bit tired and a bit fed up’ about the leak.

‘The Prime Minister is known for

‘A bit tired and a bit fed up’

speaking in a half-joking, half-serious way and I think he was probably irritated and it has spilled over into what he has said,’ they said.

‘I don’t think he is seriously contemplating [replacing Sajid Javid as Health Secretary].

‘It’s ridiculous and virtually everyone in Parliament thinks that the Chancellor is doing a fantastic job and has got a grip on a very complex equation.’

They suggested demoting Mr Sunak would backfire on Mr Johnson, saying that the Chancellor ‘wouldn’t be the one who would be damaged’ by the move – and pointed to his popularity in the polls.

The suggestion that the Prime Minister went ‘tonto’ during last Monday’s meeting had been reported in The Sunday Times.

It was also said yesterday that Mr Johnson had told allies that by writing the letter, which was copied to the Department for Transport, it was ‘bound’ to be leaked.

But sources said it was commonplace for chancellors to write to prime ministers to keep a paper record of decisions.

Another insisted the pair were ‘aligned’ in the need to provide ‘a credible way’ of funding key policies – such as social care.

And a Government source said the reports ‘couldn’t be further from the truth’, adding: ‘There is absolutely nothing in terms of a rift.’

Yet Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak have found themselves at odds over the Prime Minister’s expensive agenda – including infrastructure projects and a new royal yacht. Rumours of rifts between chancellors are as old as the offices they hold.

Lord Palmerston and William Gladstone clashed over duties on paper – seen as a tax on knowledge – in the 1860s. In more recent years, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair sparred over how tight a grip they should hold on the public purse.

Philip Hammond considered quitting as chancellor in the final weeks of Theresa May’s premiership over her plans to spend billions on projects to shore up her legacy.

George Osborne and David Cameron were one of the few Downing Street duos whose friendship survived their time at the top.

Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Bridget Phillipson yesterday accused Mr Johnson of being ‘busy picking fights’ with ministers despite the major difficulties he faces. She said: ‘The Prime Minister urgently needs to get a grip on the real challenges facing this country.

‘The Covid pandemic continues,

tens of thousands of livelihoods are still at risk, the climate crisis threatens our planet, but he’s busy picking fights with his own Government and threatening to sack the Chancellor. it’s completely disgraceful.’ A Treasury source said: ‘The Chancellor is solely focused on securing the country’s economic recovery and continuing to protect and create jobs.’

ThaTcher and Lawson. Major and Lamont. Blair and Brown. Down the years, relations between prime ministers and their chancellors have frequently been spiky. Sometimes positively toxic.

The current spat between Boris Johnson and rishi Sunak pales into insignificance compared with the simmering contempt Gordon Brown had for his boss.

But sending Mr Johnson a highly public letter calling for government travel rules to be eased was an unmistakable shot across the bows. and the PM obviously smelt the grapeshot, responding only half in jest that his impertinent young chancellor might like to be demoted to health secretary.

Some tension between the two men is understandable. Mr Johnson’s policy platform involves shelling out enormous amounts of public cash. The levelling-up agenda, social care reform and ending fossil fuel reliance will all be hugely expensive.

Mr Sunak’s job is to find ways of raising the money without breaking the bank or taxing us to death. at the same time, he’s expected to repair the black hole left by the pandemic in the public finances.

If we are to start paying down our terrifying £2.2trillion national debt, he knows we need a rapid economic bounceback, which will happen only when covid restrictions are finally scrapped.

The letter was a clear signal to the country and restive Tory backbenchers that Mr Sunak is tired of Boris dragging his feet.

Naturally smooth and charismatic, the chancellor is perceived to have performed through this crisis with a steady hand.

Polling shows him to be considerably more popular than Mr Johnson with Tory members and he is heavily tipped to be the next occupant of Number 10.

True, it’s easy to be popular when all you’re doing is giving money away. For Mr Sunak the hard yards are just beginning and he’ll need all the help he can muster.

So while it’s right that he warns Mr Johnson about being too free-spending, he must not let their differences grow into outright hostility.

Their fortunes over the coming months and years are inextricably linked.

If Britain is to prosper, these next-door neighbours must work together – not bicker and snipe at each other over the garden fence.