Boris Johnson slapped down for ‘exploiting’ public sector pay row to boost leadership bid
BORIS Johnson has been accused of wading in on a public sector pay dispute to boost his own Tory leadership bid.
In a major breach of Cabinet etiquette, the Foreign Secretary publicly joined calls yesterday to scrap the 1% cap on state wage rises.
But the move sparked a bitter backlash as fellow Tories accused him of “attention seeking”.
Former Tory Treasury boss Lord Lamont said public tin rattling made current Chancellor Philip Hammond’s job “very awkward”.
Lord Lamont added: “It is not right for Cabinet ministers to gang up on the Chancellor in this way.
“This is not a choice, it is unavoidable that we have restraint on public spending.”
One Tory minister knifed the mop-haired Tory chief to say: “Boris cannot stand not being the centre of attention.
“Intervening on this now is pure attention seeking - ‘look at me, look at me’. It’s pathetic.”
New Environment Secretary Michael Gove also copped flak for signalling his support to end the cap, along with five more Cabinet ministers.
Former Foreign Office boss Simon Fraser cast doubt on both men’s motives.
The ex-civil service mandarin tweeted: “Would be nice to think Gove & Johnson care more about #publicsectorpay than about making life difficult for Hammond”.
Boris is the front runner to replace Mrs May.
But Cabinet returnee Mr Gove pointedly refused to rule out running again for Tory leader, despite his bid imploding in disaster a year ago last week.