Theresa May has told her warring Cabinet ministers they need to show "strength and unity" after a series of damaging leaks.

The Prime Minister told her top team "there is a need to show strength and unity as a country and that starts around the Cabinet table".

Splits at the top of the Government have made headlines in recent days, with a number of briefings against the Chancellor Philip Hammond.

The extraordinary disclosures of remarks designed to damage the Chancellor - including claims he said public sector workers were "overpaid" and "even a woman can drive a train" - culminated in one unnamed Cabinet minister accusing Mr Hammond of trying to "f**** up" Brexit.

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Mr Hammond responded by appearing to accuse colleagues of briefing against him due to their unhappiness with his position on leaving the EU.


He denied making the remark about women and trains but was more coy on public sector pay, only saying it was "easy to quote a phrase out of context".

At a weekly meeting of her ministers in Downing Street, Mrs May told the Cabinet that the briefings and counter-briefings were "a case of colleagues not taking their responsibilities seriously".

Her official spokesman said the PM told the gathering that she had tried to encourage open discussion of policy within Cabinet, but it was vital that these talks remained private.

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Ministers showed "widespread" agreement with Mrs May's message, the spokesman added.

The PM's push to instil discipline also included her telling MPs at a Tory drinks party on Monday evening that their "backbiting and carping" could lead to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn entering Downing Street.

Speaking to Sky News earlier, Home Secretary Amber Rudd insisted ministers were "united in wanting to make sure that we deliver a Brexit that does protect the economy".

But former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine told Sky's All Out Politics show that Mrs May's call for unity "won't have any effect" and said the Government was currently not functioning properly, merely "coping with the trauma of Brexit".