Sajid Javid in ‘row’ with Boris Johnson over advisor sacking
Chancellor Sajid Javid has “voiced his anger” to Boris Johnson after one of his special advisors was sacked.
Sonia Khan was escorted from Downing Street on Thursday by police following a meeting with the Prime Minister’s aide Dominic Cummings concerning government leaks.
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Her security clearance was withdrawn and she was also asked to hand over her personal and work phone, with both having their logs checked.
According to reports it comes amid an informal investigation into the leak of the Operation Yellowhammer documents, which outlined potential consequences of a no-deal Brexit.
The blame had previously been laid upon an unnamed former minister.
In the meeting with Cummings, evidence was found that she found had been in touch with former colleagues that worked with the then Chancellor Philip Hammond, but nothing suggested she was involved in leaking sensitive information.
But as Johnson cracks down on leaks as part of his new regime, having already dismissed another member of Javid’s team, reports suggest Khan could not be trusted to be transparent with No 10.
Both Downing Street and Javid have declined to comment on the issue.
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The sacking has created an “unhelpful political row” between Javid and Johnson, a Whitehall source told the BBC, but they still have an “extremely close relationship”.
They added that although it was a “distraction from what the two men wanted to talk about” it would not derail their policy agenda.