Nicky Morgan fails to protect her source

It’s the first rule of journalism to always protect one’s sources. Alas this rule does not appear to apply to politicians.

This morning on Peston on Sunday, Nicky Morgan ended up revealing much more than she intended when she tried to come to the defence of the beleaguered Chancellor. Addressing recent calls from within the party for Philip Hammond to be shown the door, the former education secretary said she had been contacted by a ‘very senior Cabinet minister’ who was ‘appalled’ at those behind such manoeuvres.

So, who could this ‘very senior Cabinet minister’ be? Morgan appeared to give a rather big clue when she referred to her source as a ‘she’. As things stand, the only ‘very senior’ female Cabinet Minister after the Prime Minister is the Home Secretary – otherwise known as former Remain campaigner Amber Rudd.

Mr S suspects Rudd won’t be confiding in Morgan anytime soon…