Theresa May rewards her Cabinet with a Christmas mug and collection of minutes from past meetings

THERESA May rewarded her Cabinet with a Christmas mug and a collection of minutes from famous meetings of Governments gone by.

Ministers were spotted leaving Downing Street this morning with boxes from the British ceramics firm Emma Bridgwater after the penultimate such meeting of the year.

As well as the mug from the pottery company famous for its polka dot designs, the Prime Minister’s top team were also presented with a collection of minutes.

It was given to help celebrate the centenary of the Cabinet Office, which supports Mrs May and the Secretaries of State.

To mark 100 years of officially minuted Cabinet meetings, the current members were given a bound copy of transcripts from noteworthy previous meetings over the years.

During Cabinet they discussed the spiralling crisis in adult social care, after it was revealed the Government is looking at raising council tax to fill a funding black hole.

The PM’s official spokeswoman said an agreement that this week’s local government settlement would contain measures to help ease the pressure.

Inside Number 10 ministers had discussed the “particular challenges facing the adult social care system”.

She said: “There was an agreement that in some areas the ability to provide social care is under threat.

“Thursday’s announcement will address this issue while making clear the need for reform.”

There were rumours of a Cabinet split over the matter – with claims Chancellor Philip Hammond blocked from mentioning social care by Mrs May during his Autumn Statement.

But the Chancellor dismissed this idea, telling the House of Commons Treasury Committee he had discussed the issue with the PM ahead of his speech, but insisted it was “not true” that she had barred him from committing more cash.

It comes after as former minister, backed by some Tory MPs, called for some of the £12billion spent on overseas aid to be diverted to help vulnerable elderly people in the UK.