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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Theresa May: I did not authorise Gove letter's release | Theresa May: I did not authorise Gove letter's release |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Home Secretary Theresa May has insisted she "did not authorise" the release of a letter to Education Secretary Michael Gove about tackling extremism. | Home Secretary Theresa May has insisted she "did not authorise" the release of a letter to Education Secretary Michael Gove about tackling extremism. |
| Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had accused the pair of putting "their personal reputations and ambitions" ahead of making the right decisions. | Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had accused the pair of putting "their personal reputations and ambitions" ahead of making the right decisions. |
| Mrs May's special adviser resigned at the weekend over the ministerial row. | Mrs May's special adviser resigned at the weekend over the ministerial row. |
| Mrs May was facing MPs in the Commons with Mr Gove, answering MPs' questions next, sat alongside her. | |
| Mr Gove is now updating MPs on the report into the alleged plot by hard-line Muslims to take over some Birmingham schools. | |
| That alleged plot was the cause of a row last week between the two about how to tackle the threat of extremism. No 10 was forced to intervene to end the row, prompting the resignation of Mrs May's adviser Fiona Cunningham and an apology from Mr Gove. | |
| 'Succession battle?' | 'Succession battle?' |
| The letter, which appeared on the Home Office website late at night but was later withdrawn, was a private note from the home secretary to her cabinet colleague in which she suggested his department had failed to act over alleged plots to take over state schools in Birmingham. | The letter, which appeared on the Home Office website late at night but was later withdrawn, was a private note from the home secretary to her cabinet colleague in which she suggested his department had failed to act over alleged plots to take over state schools in Birmingham. |
| Its publication fuelled the briefing war between the two senior Cabinet ministers. | Its publication fuelled the briefing war between the two senior Cabinet ministers. |
| In an urgent Commons question, Ms Cooper said Mr Gove and Mrs May had indulged in a "public blame game", which had distracted from the government's work on tackling extremism. Instead the issue required a "thoughtful, sensitive approach", with ministers working together closely across Whitehall departments. | |
| "Instead of showing leadership and working together, the Education Secretary and Home Secretary chose to let rip at each other in public, making it harder to get the joint sensible working that we need," she said. | |
| Ms Cooper asked Mrs May why - if she had not authorised the publication of the letter - it had remained on the Home Office website for three days. "Did you write that letter in order for it to be leaked and did you authorise it's release to the media?" she said. | |
| Mrs May rejected that suggestion and denied she had broken the ministerial code. She said: "I have excluded more foreign hate preachers than any other home secretary." | Mrs May rejected that suggestion and denied she had broken the ministerial code. She said: "I have excluded more foreign hate preachers than any other home secretary." |
| But veteran Labour MP Dennis Skinner asked if the row was really about "a succession battle" between Mrs May and Mr Gove, to which the home secretary countered: "I don't think that question should be dignified with a response." | But veteran Labour MP Dennis Skinner asked if the row was really about "a succession battle" between Mrs May and Mr Gove, to which the home secretary countered: "I don't think that question should be dignified with a response." |
| Apology | |
| Labour MPs repeatedly asked Mrs May who authorised the publication of the letter on her website, but she refused to be drawn. | |
| Earlier, the PM's official spokesman said: "The home secretary did not know about the decision to publish the letter." | Earlier, the PM's official spokesman said: "The home secretary did not know about the decision to publish the letter." |
| The spokesman declined to say who was responsible for publishing the letter, but the resignation at the weekend of Mrs May's special adviser, Fiona Cunningham, suggests No 10 believed she released the letter without her boss's approval. | The spokesman declined to say who was responsible for publishing the letter, but the resignation at the weekend of Mrs May's special adviser, Fiona Cunningham, suggests No 10 believed she released the letter without her boss's approval. |
| Mr Gove has also apologised to Home Office counter-terror chief Charles Farr after comments critical of him appeared in the Times, attributed to a Department for Education source. | Mr Gove has also apologised to Home Office counter-terror chief Charles Farr after comments critical of him appeared in the Times, attributed to a Department for Education source. |
| The No 10 comments came after a meeting of the Extremism Taskforce attended by both Mr Gove and Mrs May, which was described as "a good, constructive meeting". | The No 10 comments came after a meeting of the Extremism Taskforce attended by both Mr Gove and Mrs May, which was described as "a good, constructive meeting". |
| That meeting was held shortly before the publication of the Ofsted reports into the Birmingham schools. | |
| The Downing Street spokesman said: "In terms of what happened last week, by definition there are things that should not have happened that did happen. As a result, you have seen the action that has been taken. | The Downing Street spokesman said: "In terms of what happened last week, by definition there are things that should not have happened that did happen. As a result, you have seen the action that has been taken. |
| "The prime minister believes that the right and necessary course of action has been taken, based on the facts that he asked for." | "The prime minister believes that the right and necessary course of action has been taken, based on the facts that he asked for." |
| The spokesman added: "Now all the focus is on the issues around risks to children linked to extremism and the like in some parts of the UK." | The spokesman added: "Now all the focus is on the issues around risks to children linked to extremism and the like in some parts of the UK." |