Theresa May has warned ministers that Cabinet discussions should remain private as Boris Johnson mounted a fresh push for extra spending for the NHS.
The Foreign Secretary let it be known that he intended to use the weekly meeting of the Cabinet to press for an additional £5 billion for the NHS after Britain leaves the EU.
But as ministers gathered in No 10, he was pre-empted by the Prime Minister who told the meeting any “Brexit dividend” would be allocated according to the Government’s priorities – including schools and housing as well as health.
There was an angry response also from some Tory MPs, with former minister Anna Soubry warning Mrs May he would bring her down unless she sacked him.
The row broke out amid signs of growing frustration among some backbenchers at the Government’s performance prompting renewed speculation that the Foreign Secretary was “on manoeuvres”.
Last week he again drew attention to his controversial claim during the EU referendum that leaving the bloc would release an additional £350 million a week to spend on the NHS, claiming the figure was actually an underestimate.
Ms Soubry, a prominent pro-EU campaigner, said the time had come for the Prime Minister to get rid of him.
He had shown “longstanding incompetence and disloyalty” and unless Mrs May acts now “Boris will bring her down”, she said.
Mrs May’s former chief of staff Nick Timothy hit out at Mr Johnson.
“Breaching collective responsibility and leaking Cabinet discussions are bad enough but part of political life,” he said.
“But pre-briefing your disagreement with Government policy ahead of Cabinet?”
Justice Minister Phillip Lee said “now was not the time” for such a debate, adding: “I’m getting on with my own job – as should others.”
Speculation that Mr Johnson was attempting to engineer a row in order to resign or be sacked over a matter of principle were dismissed as “utter nonsense” by his allies.