“The prime minister and a large number of Cabinet ministers made the point that Cabinet discussions should take place in private,” May’s official spokesman said, in comments widely seen as a slapdown of the foreign secretary.
He claimed that no Cabinet member had raised “any specific number” in relation to NHS funding, despite a widespread suggestion that Johnson would demand £100mn a week more – £5bn a year.
The foreign secretary believes the extra funding would help the Tories defeat Labour in a future election, but he is also keen to fulfil the promises he made as a leading figure in the Vote Leave campaign.
He first ramped up pressure on the prime minister over the issue in a Guardian interview this month in which he said the Leave campaign’s claim that Brexit could free up £350mn a week for the NHS was an underestimate, and said it was important to spend large chunks of that sum on health services.
After several newspaper stories reported Johnson’s desire to raise the issue of money for the health service, including after Brexit, May began the Cabinet meeting by putting forward the argument herself.
“The prime minister said that at the budget the government announced £6bn additional funding for the NHS,” her spokesman said, arguing this reflected the fact that health spending was a key government priority.
“Regarding the future and how any return of the EU contribution would be spent, the prime minister reminded Cabinet that the government has consistently said we will spend money on our priorities such as housing, schools and the NHS.”
The spokesman also pointed to ongoing efficiency reviews in the NHS and plans to integrate social care and health, and highlighted the next spending round due in 2018.
May told her team that she was working with the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, and the Health and Social Care Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to ensure continued investment in the NHS, but she stressed that the budget had come “only a few weeks ago” – in a further rebuke of Johnson.
The spokesman refused to comment on whether Johnson had raised the issue himself. Instead he said it was the prime minister who had “led the discussion” on how to spend the “Brexit dividend”, adding that a “number of Cabinet ministers made the same point”.
One source said that as many as eight Cabinet members ticked off Johnson for the pre-briefing of his comments, with one describing Amber Rudd as arguing that there had to be “trust” within the leading team.
The source said the home secretary added: “I’m talking to you, foreign secretary.”
