Theresa May running 'a Government without authority', former Tory deputy PM Lord Heseltine says

'She can't sack leading Brexiteers because she has no authority, so you have an enfeebled Government,' Lord Heseltine said following a weekend of in-fighting at Cabinet level in the Conservative party

Theresa May is running an “enfeebled” Government without authority following the general election last month, according to the former deputy Prime Minister Lord Heseltine.

The extraordinary comments from the Tory peer came after a weekend of in-fighting in the upper echelons of the Conservative party, with a series of damaging briefings against Philip Hammond, the Chancellor.

Describing the bitter recriminations at Cabinet level as “distressing”, Lord Heseltine, however, added the Prime Minister lacked the authority following the calamitous election result last month, in which she lost the party’s majority, to dismiss those responsible for the leaks.

“She can't sack leading Brexiteers because she has no authority, so you have an enfeebled Government,” he told BBC Radio 4's World At One. “My guess is that’s it’s a leading Brexiteer – I have no evidence but that’s where the self-interest lies.”

Lord Heseltine continued: ”I think it's very distressing. I think that the chances are there will be a general election in two years and I don't see any sign of the Conservative Party focusing on how it wins that election.“

He said that, in the Government's fragile condition, its best interests were to be “bold (and) forward-looking” and effectively dare the opposition to bring it down.

But he said he was “frightened” that any change in the leadership would simply mean a different prime minister persisting with Mrs May's “Brexit is Brexit” approach. “That is not going to win us the next election,” he added.

Lord Heseltine, who was earlier this year sacked from five Government advisory roles for rebelling on crucial Brexit vote, said that the European Union is well aware that the current Government is “without authority”.

“This is a deeply divided Government,” he said, warning that Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, was now in the position of being able to wait and see which way public opinion moves on Brexit before positioning the party to reap the electoral benefits.

On Monday - in an attempt to restore order to the Cabinet – the Prime Minister’s spokesman said Ms May, during Tuesday’s Cabinet, would reprimand ministers for leaking and briefing against the Chancellor. In just three days, Mr Hammond has been accused by his colleagues of making sexist comments at the Cabinet table, attempting to subvert Brexit and describing public sector workers as “overpaid” during a debate on the one per cent pay cap.

In a briefing to journalists in Westminster, Ms May’s spokesman added: “Cabinet must be having all discussions of Government policy in private and the Prime Minister will be reminding her colleagues of that in cabinet tomorrow,”

But asked whether he could confirm that the negative briefings were originating from Ms May's Cabinet, the spokesperson said: “I'm not going to get into speculation of who said what where and when.”

Asked about the briefings over the weekend, the Chancellor criticised his colleagues for briefing against him and said the damaging stories were coming from “people who are not happy with the agenda that I have”, which is to steer Britain towards a transitional exit deal with the EU.