Mr Johnson (pictured leaving No10 yesterday) is understood to be planning a speech that will set out his ‘vision’ of post-Brexit Britain
Boris Johnson is plotting a speech to set out his ‘vision’ of Brexit after Theresa May humiliated him in Cabinet over his public demand for more NHS cash.
A furious Prime Minister reprimanded the Foreign Secretary during a tense meeting yesterday after his allies briefed that he wanted a £5billion ‘Brexit dividend’ for the health service.
She pointedly warned ministers that ‘Cabinet discussions should take place in private’ at the tense meeting after Mr Johnson led a revolt on the crucial issue.
‘I think we make better decisions as a result,’ she told him.
Mrs May also made clear any ‘Brexit dividend’ for the NHS will not be considered until next year.
Some eight ministers are said to have piled in and voiced their anger at Mr Johnson’s behaviour, in a coordinated show of force seemingly authorised by the PM.
But hours after the clash the PM faced further pressure to increase NHS spending when Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt publicly backed Mr Johnson’s plea.
International Trade Secretary Liam Fox also made clear he supported the sentiment behind Mr Johnson’s intervention this morning.
‘I think it’s very useful to remind people that we’re getting a dividend from leaving the European Union,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
It is understood Mr Johnson is planning a big set piece speech in which he will set out his vision for how post-Brexit Britain can become more ‘liberal’ and thrive economically.
The address would risk fuelling tensions with Mrs May, who is widely expected to make her own major speech on Brexit as negotiations with the EU reach a critical point over the coming months.
Mr Johnson was blocked by Downing Street from making a speech on Brexit last autumn, prompting him to release it to the media in the form of a 4,000-word essay setting out his red lines ahead of Mrs May’s Florence speech on Brexit.
The dramatic Cabinet clash yesterday came after arch-Eurosceptic Mr Johnson demanded the substantial cash injection for the health service as soon as we leave the EU.
Brexiteer ministers such as Michael Gove, Andrea Leadsom and Penny Mordaunt are keen to demonstrate that the Leave campaign’s referendum pledge of significant extra money for the NHS is being kept.
But it is understood Mr Johnson stopped short of mentioning figures during the meeting, after the PM and a string of allies told ministers that conversations should be conducted in private.
One Cabinet member told ITV that Mrs May ‘bitch slapped’ Mr Johnson, while Home Secretary Amber Rudd is said to have stressed the need for ‘trust’ and added: ‘I’m talking to you, Foreign Secretary.’
However, other sources argued that there had been broad support for his plea for more funding.
Boris Johnson (pictured leaving Downing Street yesterday) was ordered to stop airing grievances in public during a tense Cabinet meeting
Trade Secretary Liam Fox (left at Downing Street yesterday) and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt (right) has suggested they back the substance of Boris Johnson’s calls for more cash
Arriving for talks in Brussels yesterday, Chancellor Philip Hammond dismissed the extraordinary intervention by Mr Johnson – pointing out that he is the Foreign Secretary rather than the Health Secretary
Before the meeting, Chancellor Philip Hammond had brutally dismissed Mr Johnson’s call by pointing out that he is the Foreign Secretary and insisting he would talk to the Health Secretary about funding.
But the revolt underlined mounting Tory disquiet at Theresa May’s ‘timid’ and ‘dull’ leadership. Labour seized on the split with glee, saying it was unheard of for a Cabinet row to be leaked before it had even happened.
Mrs May’s spokesman said the Cabinet discussion on the NHS lasted for around an hour.
‘The PM and a large number of Cabinet ministers made the point that Cabinet discussions should take place in private,’ he said.
ITV quoted an anonymous Cabinet minister saying Mr Johnson ‘got a complete bitch slap. Not once but twice’.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd (pictured centre), a long-time adversary of Mr Johnson, is said to have stressed the importance of trust and added: ‘I’m talking to you, foreign secretary.’
Remainer former minister Anna Soubry said the Cabinet big beast should be sacked for ‘incompetence and disloyalty’
Other sources played down claims that Mr Johnson was ‘humiliated’ by a lack of support in the room, arguing there was ‘broad consensus’ about the need to divert EU money into the NHS.
Mr Gove, Chris Grayling and Jeremy Hunt are said to have made supportive remarks.
Mr Hammond missed the meeting in No10 this morning because he is holding talks with EU counterparts.
But as he arrived in Brussels he told journalists: ‘Mr Johnson is the Foreign Secretary. I gave the Health Secretary an extra £6billion at the recent Budget.
‘We will look at departmental allocations again in the spending review when that takes place.’
Another Cabinet rival jibed that it was ‘not our job to keep Boris’s promises for him’, while justice minister Philip Lee – a practising GP – delivered a thinly-veiled dig about the need for government members to focus on their ‘own jobs’.
Mr Johnson has raised the issue with Theresa May (pictured at a Burns’ Night supper in No10 last night) in private on several occasions since the 2016 referendum
Justice minister Philip Lee – a practising GP – delivered a thinly-veiled dig about the need for government members to focus on their ‘own jobs’
Remainer former minister Anna Soubry said Mr Johnson should be sacked for ‘incompetence and disloyalty’.
Mrs May’s former chief of staff Nick Timothy also waded into the row, accusing Mr Johnson of disloyalty.
‘Breaching collective responsibility and leaking Cabinet discussions are bad enough but part of political life. But pre-briefing your disagreement with government policy ahead of cabinet?’ he said.
The Cabinet big beast is said to have raised the NHS issue with the PM in private on several occasions – but Mrs May believes it would be ‘premature’ to commit cash before the Brexit terms are finalised.
The PM’s spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister reminded Cabinet the Government has consistently said that we will spend money on our priorities such as housing, schools and the NHS.
‘There will also be other calls upon that money but we will discuss those priorities at that time.’
Mr Johnson’s concerns are understood to have been heightened by a recent visit to a hospital in his Uxbridge constituency, when he was accompanied by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Friends of Mr Johnson have complained that his plans to give the health service £100million a week are being delayed to prevent him claiming a political victory.
‘We are delivering Brexit and we are going to have to give the NHS more money before the next election, whatever happens,’ one said.
Mr Johnson will use today’s meeting of the Cabinet to make the case for using the ‘Brexit dividend’ to hand the NHS an extra £100 million a week
‘Why not link the two and deliver on the promises made to leave voters? The only reason not to is to deny Boris a win.’
During the referendum, Mr Johnson famously campaigned in a red bus emblazoned with a slogan suggesting Brexit would release up to £350million a week to spend on domestic priorities like the NHS.
The Cabinet roasting could prove to be a serious setback for Mr Johnson, following mounting suspicions of another coordinated bid by supporters to force him into Downing Street.
Last week, former planning minister Nick Boles said the government ‘constantly disappoints’ because of ‘timidity and lack of ambition’.
Tory grandee Sir Nicholas Soames also branded the government’s agenda ‘dull, dull, dull’ and called for a ‘brave and bold’ approach.