A senior Conservative minister has rebuked Britain’s most senior anti-terrorist police officer for being alarmist after he said that government-imposed cuts could weaken defences against al-Qaeda.

Amid growing tensions between the Conservatives and police over swingeing budget cuts, Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, said that civil servants “should not alarm the public”.

Assistant Commissioner John Yates, of Scotland Yard, said yesterday that the Treasury’s “eye-watering” cuts would increase the risk from terrorists. His comments, revealed in The Times, were made at the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) annual conference in Manchester. He is also head of Special Operations at the Metropolitan Police.

Mr Maude said today, “I think it’s going to be pretty important for people who are managing big public services