Theresa May has intervened in a damaging row between Gavin Williamson, the defence secretary, and Philip Hammond, the chancellor, by asking them to cool down their spat.
The dispute started over Williamson’s attempts to get more money for the armed forces, with allies of Hammond blaming him for orchestrating a backbench rebellion. One ally of the chancellor is said to have briefed a Sunday newspaper that Williamson looked “like Private Pike from Dad’s Army”.
There followed reports that the Ministry of Defence was banning Hammond from using military planes for foreign trips after complaints about an unpaid Treasury bill.
The row escalated further on Wednesday when Hammond suggested to the House of Commons defence committee that Williamson was yet to “get his head around the defence budget”.
One MP said one of May’s parliamentary private secretaries had taken both men aside to ask them to calm the situation. Another Conservative source said this had happened after an escalation of their row in the House of Commons on Wednesday evening.
Downing Street has previously acknowledged there was an “administrative discussion” under way between the two departments, but the prime minister has intervened amid concerns the row was getting out of hand.
No 10 and spokespeople for Williamson and Hammond had no immediate comment.
Williamson was promoted to the role of defence secretary despite a lack of departmental experience after Michael Fallon was forced to step down last month over allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour.
This week Williamson caused a backlash from opposition parties when he said Britons who fought for Islamic State abroad should be hunted down and killed to ensure they never returned to the UK
He told the Daily Mail: “Quite simply, my view is a dead terrorist can’t cause any harm to Britain.”
