Chancellor accused of hoarding urgently needed No Deal Brexit cash by ministers

A FRESH Cabinet row exploded last night as ministers accused Philip Hammond of still keeping a handbrake on urgently needed Brexit No Deal cash.

The Chancellor lambasted the PM’s top table yesterday for only spending a third of the £1.5bn he has doled out so far for emergency contingencies.

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But others senior figures hit back to insist the Treasury is still “taking months” to sign off crucial individual projects, despite there being just 100 days to go until exit day.

It also emerged that Cabinet ministers tore into each other’s alternative Brexit options yesterday in front of Theresa May if her deal falls.

During another stormy Cabinet meeting in No10 yesterday, the PM failed to stop a ‘Plan B’ argument breaking out among her deeply divided top table over what to do if the Commons showdown vote is lost next month.

At the Tory Cabinet’s bad blood worsened, the Chancellor was directly accused by one Cabinet minister of still trying to sabotage no deal preparations by ordering his officials to go slow on cash requests from across Whitehall.

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The Cabinet minister fumed to The Sun: “The one Government department doing the most to stop no deal is the Treasury, so it is incredible for them to now criticise anyone else.

“Hammond has never wanted us to prepare for no deal because he thinks it’s more likely to never happen if we don’t.

“All the delays in getting money come directly from him.”

Another livid minister in a different ministry - also with a heavy Brexit workload - added: “Even when the budgets are allocated, it still needs to be released through business cases approved by the Treasury, and that’s when the Treasury tries to restrict it.

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“We are doing full business cases and they still don’t yet have them cleared. It is quite extraordinary”.

But hitting back, sources close to Mr Hammond last night insisted the ministers were wrong as the Treasury doesn’t oversee spending once the cash is doled out to departments.

No deal cash requests are sometimes turned down but only when ministers are trying it on, the source added.

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