IN DEPTH

As Rishi Sunak keeps rising, civil service braces for turmoil

The chancellor is riding high while No 10’s woes grow

Boris Johnson is relieved that at least one minister, Rishi Sunak, is popular
Boris Johnson is relieved that at least one minister, Rishi Sunak, is popular
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JACK HILL; AFP/GETTY IMAGES
The Times

Up until the end even cabinet ministers were kept in the dark. Concerned that rabbits would leak rather than leap out of his hat, Rishi Sunak adopted a trick practised by his predecessor George Osborne. So when the cabinet was assembled to be briefed on the details of Mr Sunak’s Covid recovery package, key elements were deliberately omitted.

There was no mention of the eye-catching “eat out to help out” scheme and, more contentiously, no mention of his £9 billion furlough bonus scheme. His colleagues, like everyone else, would have to wait for his official statement in the Commons.

His uncollegiate move (although a well known Treasury trick) is stoking a bit of jealousy — about what seems to be the inexorable rise of the