Boris Johnson and Theresa May 'in Cabinet spat over stop and search powers'
1 min read
Boris Johnson reportedly openly challenged Theresa May over her decision to reduce the use of stop and search powers in a heated Cabinet exchange earlier this week.
During her time as Home Secretary, Mrs May cut the use of stop and search powers – believing that it had disproportionality targeted young black men.
But in a pointed Cabinet exchange, the Foreign Secretary is said to have argued that the tactic had been responsible for a fall in knife and violent crime, during his time as Mayor, in a period where London’s population was soaring.
One cabinet minister told The Spectator: “Boris thinks stop and search is the answer, [the Prime Minister] thinks she stopped a national scandal.”
Mr Johnson’s open questioning of the Prime Minister’s decision during the cabinet session reportedly left some ministers shocked, with one saying the exchange had been a “water cannon retrospective” - in a reference to Mrs May’s decision to block the use of water cannons on the streets of London.
Another cabinet minister suggested that the argument was evidence of a general clash in personalities between the Prime Minister and her Foreign Secretary, saying: “They irritate each other”.
But other sources have dismissed the row, suggesting that Mr Johnson’s comments were aimed at criticising his Labour successor for mayor, Sadiq Kahn.
One source told The Times: “This is painting a row where there is none.”
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