Boris Johnson has been unable to deny Rishi Sunak’s claims that he refuses to take calls from his former chancellor.
A month after his cabinet resignation, which precipitated Johnson’s ouster from Downing Street, Sunak told an event for the Conservative leadership race on Thursday night that Johnson was refusing to answer or return calls from he
Asked if he would stop ignoring Sunak’s calls, the Prime Minister told reporters during a visit to North Wales: “This is one of those Westminster questions that doesn’t change the price of fish.” .
“There are many things that change the price of fish, especially the price of energy, but this is not one of them.”
During a taping event in Cheltenham, Sunak was asked if he had spoken to the Prime Minister since resigning from the government and replied that he had texted him and tried to call but “maybe it’s not surprising” Johnson hadn’t answered.
Sunak left his role in July, minutes after former health secretary Sajid Javid, with both men citing standards and integrity.
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Nadine Dorries, one of Johnson’s closest allies, has suggested Sunak was part of a “coup” that brought down the Tory leader, while a senior No 10 official was quoted in the Financial Times on last month calling Sunak “a traitorous bastard”.
Another Johnson supporter in the cabinet told the FT: “Rishi will get all he deserves for leading the charge to bring down the prime minister.”
Johnson, for his part, appeared to be less than enthusiastic about working with Sunak and Liz Truss, the two candidates to succeed him, to come up with new measures to tackle the cost of living crisis.
“Troops are not only coming in now, and have started to go out, but they will continue to come in for the next few weeks and months,” the prime minister told reporters.
Earlier, the chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, said he believed the next prime minister could “step up” to help struggling families.
He said his Treasury officials were “looking at all options” for additional help this winter to ensure Truss or Sunak had the information needed to make decisions from September 5.