Sunak ally hits out over Downing Street parties

A MINISTErIAL ally of rishi Sunak rebuked Boris Johnson last night as Sajid Javid also sided with the Chancellor.

John Glen, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said the culture in Downing Street ‘fell short of what the country had a right to expect’.

He said the behaviour of staff in Downing Street over lockdown parties was indefensible and that he had told Mr Johnson ‘how frustrated and let down we all feel’.

He also dismissed suggestions that public anger had begun to ease. ‘I certainly do not subscribe to the views of some colleagues who have been in the media saying that their correspondence is drying up and their constituents are moving on,’ he wrote in his local newspaper, The Salisbury Journal.

It came hours after Mr Javid sought to distance himself from Mr Johnson over the Prime Minister’s explosive claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute paedophile DJ Jimmy Savile. The Health Secretary went out of his way to praise the Labour leader, saying he had done a ‘good job’ when he was director of public prosecutions.

His comments came after the Chancellor took the extraordinary step of rebuking Mr Johnson for claiming Sir Keir was responsible for not prosecuting Savile.

At a Downing Street press conference on Thursday, Mr Sunak said: ‘Being honest, I wouldn’t have said it.’

Mr Johnson’s policy chief Munira Mirza quit on Thursday over the PM’s refusal to apologise. There is no evidence Sir Keir was involved in the Savile decision. Asked about the issue yesterday, Mr Javid said: ‘Keir Starmer, when he was running the DPP, did a good job and he should be respected for it. It is a tough job and he deserved absolute respect for that.

‘But the Prime Minister has also clarified those remarks, and that is important.’ Asked if the PM still had his support, Mr Javid said: ‘of course he does. Absolutely.’

The disagreement between Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak has fuelled speculation the Chancellor wants to replace the PM.