Johnny Mercer’s WIFE joins in bitter feud with his boss Ben Wallace
The feud between Ben Wallace and his junior minister Johnny Mercer escalated dramatically today, with the latter’s wife even getting involved.
The defense secretary resumed the bitter dispute by saying it was “lucky” Johnny Mercer didn’t have to take over the department’s budget.
In an interview with LBC, Wallace noted that he was in charge of 224,000 staff, while the veterans minister had “12 people in the office.”
The brutal rebuke prompted Felicity Cornelius-Mercer to tweet her surprise at the “disdain” Wallace was showing for her husband and his report.
It came after Mercer insisted it was “not credible” for Wallace to say the UK military had been “emptied”.
Mercer, a former commando captain, suggested that his boss had been making exaggerated statements as part of disputes with the Treasury ahead of the March 15 budget.
In an interview with LBC, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that “fortunately” Johnny Mercer did not have to take over the department’s budget.
Mercer’s wife, Felicity, chimed in after Wallace’s latest comments, saying he was showing “disdain.”
Mrs. Cornelius-Mercer frequently speaks up to defend her husband.
When asked about Mr Mercer’s comments, Mr Walllace said: ‘Well, I think, you know, Johnny is a junior minister.
And luckily, Johnny doesn’t have to take over the budget. You know, I have a defense budget that has to deal, like all other budgets, with inflation, with changes in the threat, and I just have to deal with that. And that is my job.
He was asked if Mr. Mercer was “being naive.” Mr. Wallace said: No, no, no. I just think, you know, his experience is not… he’s not the Secretary of State.
‘He has not directed… I direct a Department of 224,000 people, I believe. or something like that.’
When asked how many employees Mercer was in charge of, Wallace replied, “He has 12 people in the office.”
Ms Cornelius-Mercer posted on Twitter saying ‘wow’ with a surprised emoji. “@BenWallaceMP’s disdain for @JohnnyMercerUK and his office for veterans affairs really is something else…you can start to realize why caring for veterans is such a daily battle,” she said.
It is far from being the first firm intervention in favor of her husband. After Liz Truss fired Mercer in September, Cornelius-Mercer said the cabinet system “sucks” and “treats people horribly.”
She tweeted an image mocking Ms. Truss as Beaker, a character from The Muppets TV show, and recounting Mr. Mercer’s exit discussions.
Ms Cornelius-Mercer tweeted: “He asked her ‘why would you do this, who’s going to be better at this role than me, which of your mates gets the job, did you promise a meritocracy?’
‘PM – I can’t answer that, Johnny.
‘This system sucks and treats people terribly. The best person I know fired by a jerk @trussliz.’
She added in a follow-up tweet: “Yeah, I feel sour. Please allow it – 24 hours and then test positive again.’
During a debate last month in the House of Commons, former Scots Guardsman Mr Wallace said he was “happy to say we have been hollowed out and underfunded”.
Just days later, he told a joint UK-Australian press conference in Portsmouth that an “increasing proportion” of government spending should go towards keeping the country safe, in a message that was interpreted as being addressed to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt earlier of the Budget.
It comes against the backdrop of UK efforts to help Ukraine push back invading Russian troops and rising global tensions with China.
Reports suggested that Mr Mercer had taken offense at the Defense Secretary’s comments in Parliament, apparently saying at a Coalition for Global Prosperity event that they were “patently not true”.
When asked about his past criticism of Mr Wallace’s stance, the Cabinet Office minister told LBC: ‘Ben is involved in a lobbying effort for his department, unsurprisingly.
‘The facts are that when I got into politics, defense spending was around £38bn a year; now it barely reaches £50 billion a year.
“Obviously it is not credible to say that the money has been taken from the defense.”
After her husband was fired by Liz Truss, Felicity Cornelius-Mercer said the cabinet system ‘sucks’ and ‘treats people terrible’
When asked how many employees Mercer was in charge of, Wallace replied, “He has 12 people in the office.”
The brutal rebuke came after Mercer (pictured) insisted it was “not credible” for Wallace to say the UK military had been “emptied”.
Pressed on Mr Wallace’s handling of the MoD funding debate, Mr Mercer added: “I think he is standing up for his department when spending is coming up.”
“But when this prime minister was chancellor just 18 months ago, he made the biggest defense payment since the end of the Cold War.
‘So it is not credible to go ahead and say that we have not put money into defense.
I think we have — I think our Defense Ministry and military are in excellent shape. There’s a lot to be positive about, so I’m afraid I don’t really buy the narrative of weakening the defense.”
The comments come ahead of an update to the Integrated Review on Security, Defense, Development and Foreign Policy, which is expected in the coming weeks.
Released in 2021, the integrated review announced a foreign policy “tilt” toward the Indo-Pacific in recognition of China’s growing influence in the region.