Boris Johnson blames his own allies for trying to get Philip Hammond sacked
The Foreign Secretary used a private MPs’ WhatsApp group to blast close aides who told The Sun he wants the Chancellor fired in a bid to save face
UNDER pressure Boris Johnson blamed his own allies for trying to get Philip Hammond sacked instead of him.
The Foreign Secretary used a private MPs’ WhatsApp group to blast close aides who told The Sun he wants the Chancellor fired in a bid to save face.
But allies of Mr Hammond didn’t buy his attempt to distance himself from the comments.
One former Cabinet minister close to the Chancellor told The Sun: “Most of us are heartily sick of the Foreign Secretary who started all this with his undermining of the PM after her Florence speech.”
The PM signalled she could demote Boris in a reshuffle later this month - and her spokesman yesterday refused to deny that Mrs May found him “a challenge”.
But the spokesman insisted she had full confidence in both Mr Hammond and Mr Johnson.
Friends of Mr Johnson warned Mrs May that she is not strong enough to get rid of him, while Brexiteers said Philip Hammond should be sacked instead.
The Prime Minister said yesterday that she would face down the “challenge” from Boris, vowing to do whatever is necessary to bring her rival under control.
But within hours, his allies began to rally round - saying that Boris could “just say no” to a new job, and warning that pro-Brexit voters need a champion at the top of the Government.
However, Mr Johnson insisted the supporters were not speaking on his behalf - and even suggested they could be "imposters"; trying to strengthen his image as a plotter.
He told other MPs via WhatsApp: "I am frankly fed up to the back teeth with all this.
"I do not know who these people are. I do not know if they are really my friends and allies or if they represent some sinister band of imposters.
"I heartily disagree with the sense, tone and spirit of what they are quoted as saying. Whoever they are they do not speak for me."
One minister had : “Let's say she tries to move Boris to Defence Secretary.
“He'd just say no - what is she going to do about it? There's a stench of death emanating from Downing Street.”
Another added: "Brexit is absolutely crucial to democracy in this country now. If we fail to deliver that, the public will never forgive us.”
One ally of Boris claimed sacking the Foreign Secretary would go down “like a bucket of cold sick” with voters.
Asked yesterday how she would reassert her authority over Boris, the PM said: “It has never been my style to hide from a challenge and I’m not going to start now.”
She is expected to carry out a reshuffle of her ministers later this month.
Brexit-backing Tory MPs have called on Mrs May to move Mr Hammond away from the Treasury because they think he is too gloomy about Brexit.
Senior backbencher Bernard Jenkin became one of the first Conservatives to oppose the Chancellor openly, writing that “on Brexit we just can’t trust the Treasury”.
