Priti Patel, the international development secretary, has made it very clear that the £13 billion aid budget should not fall into the hands of Boris Johnson.
In an interview with The Sun yesterday, the foreign secretary called for the department for international development (DFID) to be scrapped. It would see the responsibility for Britain's foreign aid budget handed to his department.
BuzzFeed News asked Priti Patel at a fringe event at the Conservatives conference in Manchester on Tuesday whether she agreed with Johnson that her role in the government should no longer exist.
"Government policy is for DFID to be an independent department," Patel said, going on to talk about the need to spread the aid budget to Commonwealth countries.
When asked for a second time about whether the international development department should be scrapped, Patel replied, "DFID is an independent department."
She's far from the only high profile critic of Johnson's proposal.
The former Conservative minister for international development Sir Desmond Swayne and the former development secretary Andrew Mitchell both think it's a pretty bad idea.
"Very dangerous agenda" to put DFID into FCO says fmr globaldev minister Sir Desmond Swayne. Joins Mitchell and Burt in hitting back at Bojo
Meanwhile Alistair Burt MP – who serves under both Patel and Johnson – said it was "crucial" the foreign office did not take control of aid.
"Very important that #FCO & #DfID work together closely but retain separate identities. Both depts crucial"… https://t.co/vASgMd5iWz
Earlier on Tuesday, Patel delivered her keynote speech on foreign aid to the Conservatives conference, which some political journalists seemed to think was a pitch for a future leadership bid.