The Sunday Mail - 01.09.2019

12 The Mail on Sunday^ September 1^ •^2019

Hammond stokes sacked aide row

for No 10, her friends said she was

considering her next steps. One

said: ‘She is in pieces over this. She

is still in shock. It has damaged her

career prospects and neither she

nor Sajid will let it rest.’

Ms Trowbridge said: ‘I don’t know

anything about the circumstances

as I left Government several

months ago.’

The row comes amid growing

disquiet among some Cabinet Min­

isters about the power wielded by

Mr Cummings. He has sacked four

senior advisers in the past month.

Critics have pointed out that all of

the advisers were young women,

but Mr Cummings furiously denies

having a sexist agenda and has told

advisers: ‘If you don’t like how I run

things, there’s the door. F*** off.’

It is understood that other Cabi­

net Ministers say that they have

had to intervene to protect their

advisers from being dismissed

after Mr Cummings raised

‘unfounded’ questions about their

loyalty and competence. The sack­

ing of Ms Khan – the second mem­

ber of Mr Javid’s team to be axed

since Mr Johnson came to power –

is being seen within Government

as a sign that No 10 is asserting its

authority over the Chancellor by

stripping him of his autonomy.

Allies of the Chancellor claim that

the first he knew of the Govern­

ment’s plans to cut fuel duty this

autumn was when he read about it

in last weekend’s Mail on Sunday.

A Downing Street source insisted

that there was a ‘very strong rela­

tionship’ between the Prime Min­

ister and the Chancellor.

The source said: ‘One of Boris’s

first acts as PM was to make sure

that Sajid was invited to the daily

8.30, which sets the agenda for the

day. They meet for dinner and have

worked extremely closely on the

Spending Review.’

Another No 10 source said that

the reports of a rift had been

‘grossly exaggerated’, and that

Mr Cummings had recently

acknowledged the excellent work

of Treasury advisers preparing for

this week’s Spending Review.

The source said: ‘Dom is very

impressed by their work, and in

particular that of Chief Secretary

to the Treasury Rishi Sunak, who

ing about the risks of a No Deal.
According to sources, when Mr
Cummings confronted Ms Khan and
demanded to know which allies of
Mr Hammond she had recently con­
tacted – including Ms Trowbridge –
he first asked her to unlock and
hand over her Government phone.
While he was examining its con­
tents he noticed that Ms Khan was
scrolling ‘frantically’ through her
personal phone deleting messages.
Mr Cummings then forced Ms Khan
to surrender her personal handset:
although sources say that Ms Khan
had ‘managed to clear most of her
WhatsApp messages’, Mr Cum­
mings spotted a recent voice call to
Ms Trowbridge. It was at that point
that he stripped her of her security
pass and summoned the police.
Ms Khan was not available for
comment yesterday but, ominously

By Glen Owen

Political editor

By Harry Cole

dePUtY Political editor

THE newest resident of Downing

Street will be a Jack Russell puppy

saved from certain death at the

hands of sick dog traders, The Mail

on Sunday can reveal.

Amid a turbulent week in West­

minster, Boris Johnson and girl­

friend Carrie Symonds will

welcome in the as­yet­unnamed

15­week­old puppy abandoned by

a Welsh farmer for having an

undershot and misaligned jaw,

meaning he could not be sold.

The dog was rescued by Eileen

Jones, of Friends of Animals Wales,

a small volunteer­run rescue shel­

ter based in the valleys of South

Wales. It specialises in rescuing

and rehabilitating sick and dis­

carded farm dogs. A source said

the puppy could arrive as soon as

tomorrow and, unlike No 10 cat

Larry, he will belong to Mr Johnson

and Miss Symonds rather than

whoever occupies Downing Street.

Insiders say the new arrival is

young enough to be trained to get

along with the famously territorial

Chief Mouser.

Earlier this month, the PM polled

No 10 staff on whether to get a dog

and received an overwhelming

‘yes’ from his team. A number of

staff have also volunteered for

dog­walking duties.

Mr Johnson and Ms Symonds are

hoping to raise awareness for new

strict anti­puppy farming legisla­

tion, known as Lucy’s Law, which

comes into force next April.

The clampdown targets third­

party puppy sellers who breed dogs

often in terrible conditions in large

agricultural sheds and then sell

them to pet shops.

Lucy’s Law is named after a Cava­

lier King Charles Spaniel called

Lucy, who was rescued from a

puppy farm.

She died in 2016 after just three

years enjoying freedom, succumb­

ing to life­threatening ailments

caused by her breeding.

The Tory legislation was spear­

headed by TV vet and PupAid

founder Marc Abraham and backed

by celebrities including Ricky

Gervais, Rachel Riley and Brian

May. From next year, it will be

illegal to sell a puppy or kitten with­

out seeing it interacting with its

mother in the place where it was

born, making all breeders account­

able and giving the public com­

plete transparency.

Last night, Mr Abraham said: ‘I’m

absolutely delighted that the Prime

Minister and Carrie have chosen

to rescue a puppy, which will hugely

help to highlight Lucy’s Law.’

He added: ‘Eileen is an absolute

hero who has racked up massive

vets’ bills picking up these poorly

puppies and breeding dogs.

‘I hope this encourages others to

adopt and donate to her work.’

‘If you don’t like it,

there’s the door’

THE row over the sacking of one of Sajid
Javid’s advisers by Downing Street deep­
ened last night after former Chancellor
Philip Hammond described the reasons
for her dismissal as ‘totally implausible’.
Mr Javid was left ‘absolutely furious’
after Boris Johnson’s all­powerful aide
Dominic Cummings fired Sonia Khan on
Thursday evening for allegedly misleading
him over the extent of her contact with Mr
Hammond – her former boss at the Treasury
and an avowed opponent of Mr Johnson’s
Brexit strategy.
No 10 has tried to defuse the row by insist­
ing that reports of a rift between Mr Javid
and Mr Johnson were ‘grossly exaggerated’.
Mr Javid confronted an ‘apologetic’ Mr
Johnson on Friday to demand an explanation
about why Ms Khan had been escorted out
of Downing Street by police.
A spokesman for Mr Hammond said yes­
terday: ‘Sonia was a superb special adviser
to Philip when he was Chancellor. But she’s
a committed Brexiteer and passionate about
leaving on October 31. The idea that she would
leak to people trying to prevent No Deal is
totally implausible. Where’s the motive?’
The row comes as The Mail on Sunday has
learned that a former Sky News presenter
is at the centre of the extraordinary row.
Poppy Trowbridge, who spent three years
as a special adviser to Mr Hammond, has
been a prominent figure in the media since
leaving Government earlier this year, criti­
quing Mr Johnson’s Brexit strategy and warn­

LINKS:

Philip Hammond

with Poppy

Trowbridge, left,

and Sonia Khan

at last year’s

Tory conference

Look out Larry! No 10’s got a dog

TERRITORIAL: Larry the cat

ALAMY

l Former Chancellor

rages that Downing

Street’s reason for

axeing adviser is

‘totally implausible’

l... as MoS reveals

glamorous ex-Sky

presenter at centre

of bust-up between

PM and Sajid Javid