Several sources yesterday pointed the finger at the unit's chief Liam Booth-Smith, who is said to make little effort to disguise his disdain for the PM. It was viewed with such alarm by the then Chancellor Sajid Javid that he quit the Cabinet rather than be stripped of his own special advisers.Д«ut his successor Mr Sunak quickly turned it to his advantage, with one source saying the unit was now a 'wholly owned subsidiary of the Treasury'. The original aim of the powerful unit was to wrest power away from the Treasury and prevent the Government's purse holders blocking the PM's ambitious plans. Nowhere is this truer than in the joint No 10/Treasury team set up by Mr Cummings to try to improve relations between the historic rivals. Some retain a residual loyalty to the former No 10 supremo, which his successor Dan Rosenfield has so far failed to break. The Brexit mastermind quit No 10 almost a year ago after losing a power struggle with the PM's wife Carrie.Д«ut he left behind a network of aides and special advisers across government. Many in Government sense the hand of Dominic Cummings, the PM's former chief adviser who has now transformed himself into Mr Johnson's chief tormentor. 'I think you have to look a bit further down the street.' 'That is the BBC saying it is not No 10,' said one ally of Mr Johnson. While Downing Street declined to comment in public, allies of the PM were notably quick to suggest the briefing had come not from No 10 itself, but from the Chancellor's power base next door.ДЄs evidence, they pointed to a decision by the BBC to change the attribution of the quote on its website from 'No 10 source' to 'senior Downing Street source'. There is also unhappiness with the performance of the whips office, which has had to resort to giving rebel MPs the night off to prevent them voting against the Government.ДЄnd last night a hunt for the so-called 'Chatty Pig' who dripped poison in the ear of the BBC was threatening to blow apart the fragile truce between the PM and Chancellor Rishi Sunak. Many No 10 insiders were aghast at the disastrous decision this month to try to block the suspension of former Cabinet minister Owen Paterson for lobbying, which unleashed a fortnight of damaging headlines about Tory sleaze.

The speech mishaps вЂ“ blamed on a junior aide handing the PM a print-out of his speech with the pages in the wrong order вЂ“ are only the latest cause of disquiet. One ally of the PM said: 'Why is anyone in Downing Street putting this out there? It is so self-indulgent, so damaging вЂ“ if that's what you really think then you should do something about it or quit, not go bleating to the BBC.' But, as multiple sources said yesterday, it is also entirely possible that the Chatty Pig is working at the heart of Government in No 10Д«ut the ferocity of the briefing against him took aides aback, triggering the latest bout of what one former No 10 insider described as 'fear and loathing in Downing Street'. On more than one occasion, Chancellor Rishi Sunak (pictured) is said to have asked the PM's chief of staff to leave the room so that he can speak frankly with Mr Johnson.

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