Daily Mail - 30.08.2019

Daily Mail, Friday, August 30, 2019 Page 5
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They scrub up

well: Helen

McCrory and

Damian Lewis

IF both of your parents were acting

royalty, you might expect to live a

pampered life.

But Damian Lewis and Helen McCrory

have come clean to reveal a dirty secret:

they’ve only just bought a dishwasher.

However, far from penny-pinching, the

couple – worth £13million – deliberately

spurned the gadget to avoid their chil-

dren getting lazy. Miss McCrory, 51, said

they wanted to ensure daughter Manon,

12, and son Gulliver, 11, did the dishes.

The actress – who has been married to

Eton-educated Lewis, 48, for 12 years –

said: ‘We have only just got a dishwasher

because I would scream and shout and

say: “I want the kids to realise that you

have to buy the food and cook the food

and eat the food and then wash up.” I like

the slowness of washing up.’

Miss McCrory who is currently starring

in the fifth series of BBC hit Peaky

Blinders, also said she fears her children

aren’t rebellious enough – especially com-

pared with her own upbringing.

Blaming the internet for making teenag-

ers want to conform, she told The Idler

magazine: ‘I have been in hushed, shocked

silence at my children recently. When I was

going through my 13-14 stage I was wear-

ing my Doc Martens and going to see

Siouxsie and the Banshees.

‘When I was 14 the boys I fancied were 19

and they were all punks. That whole move-

ment was anti the system. It was so “f***

you”. We went on Free Nelson Mandela

marches, then it was the poll tax. It was so

anti-establishment.

‘What I find worrying about this genera-

tion is that because of the internet and the

constant advertising, they want to buy

Gucci,’ she said. ‘Do it yourself, don’t just

sign into the system and hope that you’re

going to succeed as a blogger!’

Miss McCrory and Lewis, who won a

Golden Globe for his role in US drama

Homeland, have previously told how they

refused to put their careers on hold for their

children. Both continued with gruelling

work schedules, often flying between sets

and their north London home.

By Alisha Rouse

Showbusiness Correspondent

Kitchen sink drama as TV stars spurn

dishwasher so kids learn to wash up

Leak fury at No

Former aide to Hammond is

quizzed by Boris’s man, then

sacked... and frogmarched

from Downing St by police

A SENIor Treasury aide

was frogmarched out of

Downing Street last night

after being accused of

leaking Brexit secrets to

allies of Philip Hammond.

Sonia Khan, who was the

former chancellor’s special

adviser, was allegedly con-

fronted by Boris Johnson’s

chief aide Dominic Cummings.

He claimed Miss Khan, who

worked for Mr Hammond’s suc-

cessor Sajid Javid, was helping Mr

Hammond and other Tory MPs

attempting to stop No Deal.

When Miss Khan denied the alle-

gations, Mr Cummings demanded

that she show him her phone.

Government sources said an angry

exchange followed.

Mr Cummings called police and

Miss Khan was frogmarched out

of the building. The 8pm confron-

tation was witnessed by other

special advisers who were attend-

ing a meeting in Downing Street.

According to one official, Miss

Khan was told by Mr Cummings

that she was dismissed on the

spot, ordered to hand over her

mobile phone and told that her

Whitehall security pass was can-

celled with immediate effect.

‘The cops marched her out of

No 10 while she protested her inno-

cence. It was incredible,’ the offi-

cial said.

Since Mr Johnson entered No 10,

Mr Cummings, who was the mas-

termind of the Vote Leave cam-

paign in 2016, has earned a repu-

tation for stopping leaks by

Government aides.

The sacking comes after the sen-

sational disclosure of No Deal

preparations earlier this month,

ahead of Mr Johnson’s debut on

the world stage as Prime Minister.

The dossier, which predicted

food, fuel and medicine shortages

if Britain left without a deal,

appeared in the Sunday Times on

August 18. Under the codename

operation Yellowhammer, it

warned of three months of chaos

at ports, clashes with EU fishing

vessels and a crisis for social care.

Downing Street claimed the fore-

casts were the work of the previous

administration, out of date and

showed a worst-case scenario.

A No 10 source blamed former

frontbenchers led by Mr Ham-

mond. It said the dossier, appar-

ently written by Cabinet office

officials, was ‘from when ministers

were blocking what needed to be

done to get ready to leave and the

funds were not available’.

The source claimed: ‘It has been

deliberately leaked by a former

minister in an attempt to influence

discussions with EU leaders.’

Miss Khan’s sacking comes days

after Mr Hammond gave an inter-

view saying No Deal would be just

as much of a ‘betrayal’ as not leav-

ing. He accused No 10 of smearing

former ministers by suggesting

they had released details of oper-

ation Yellowhammer.

After his comments, it emerged

the dossier was from August 2019

• after Mr Hammond and other
  pro-remain cabinet ministers
  were replaced by Mr Johnson.
  In his letter to the PM, the
  former chancellor said it was clear
  the document ‘would not have
  been available to any former min-
  ister who is not serving in the cur-
  rent administration’.
  Mr Hammond said: ‘Accordingly,
  I am writing on behalf of all former
  ministers in the last administration
  to ask you to withdraw these alle-
  gations which question our integ-
  rity, acknowledge that no former
  minister could have leaked this
  document, and apologise for the
  misleading briefing from No 10.’
  Labour called for the document
  to be published in full in order to
  inform public debate about the
  implications of No Deal.
  Miss Khan declined to comment
  last night.
  Downing Street sources con-
  firmed she had been sacked but
  refused to say why. one insider
  said: ‘There are very good reasons
  this has happened. reasons that
  were proved beyond doubt.’
  Miss Khan was recruited as a
  special adviser by Mr Hammond

last September. She had worked

for former international trade sec-

retary Liam Fox and the Taxpay-

ers’ Alliance.

A popular figure among fellow

aides, she appears to have become

the first victim of the ‘one leak

and you’re out’ rule imposed by

Mr Cummings. Despite this, the

Government has suffered a

number of damaging leaks.

A separate inquiry is under way

into how the media learned of Mr

Johnson’s plan to suspend Par-

liament before he had informed

the Queen

By Simon Walters

EXCLUSIVE

Confrontation: Mr Cummings

War of words: Boris Johnson and ex-chancellor Philip Hammond