Theresa May says she does not want cabinet of ‘yes men’ in bid to play down Boris Johnson rift
2 min read
Theresa May today insisted she would be weak to appoint a Cabinet “full of yes men”, as she sought to play down the repeated challenges thrown at her by Boris Johnson.
But the Prime Minister repeatedly refused to say clearly that the Foreign Secretary could be sacked after he spent weeks undermining her authority from the sidelines.
Mr Johnson has faced accusations of attempting a leadership bid by setting out his own ‘red lines’ on Brexit and further angered colleagues by straying into domestic policy issues far from his brief.
Mrs May has faced repeated calls to dismiss her colleague and other Cabinet ministers have fired warnings at the Foreign Secretary by stating that nobody is “unsackable”.
Asked on BBC Radio 5 Live if she would echo them today, Mrs May said “of course a prime minister makes decisions about who is in their Cabinet”.
And she added: “Weak leadership is having a Cabinet full of yes men. Weak leadership is having a team of people who only agree with you.
“Actually, strong leadership is about having a diverse range of voices around the Cabinet table who then come together, who discuss the issues and then come up with the answer.”
Mr Johnson appeared to raise the white flag last night as he insisted the Cabinet was “united” behind the landmark Brexit speech the Prime Minister made in Florence.
"Contrary to some of the stuff that I notice has been knocking around in the media, you have a Cabinet that is totally united behind every comma, every full stop, every syllable of the Prime Minister's excellent Florence speech,” he said.
"That's the agenda that we're going to deliver and we're going to deliver a great Brexit for this country."
Allies of Mrs May told The Times she had ruled out sacking the Foreign Secretary, but added: “There are better ways to cause someone misery.”
Mr Johnson will make his Conservative party conference speech in Manchester today. Mrs May will make hers tomorrow.
TV DEBATES
Elsewhere, Mrs May hinted that she could take part in TV debates if she fights the next election, after refusing to do so before the snap vote in June.
She said: “There are TV debates and TV debates. Let’s just say I might take a different approach next time.”
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