Downing Street defends employing taxpayer-funded photographers to take photos of Boris Johnson’s dog

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. But a photograph of the prime minister’s pet Dilyn has sparked controversy over value to the taxpayer, concerns over Downing Street data - and peculiar insinuation from a No 10 spokesman that a cabinet position may have been filled by a pet. Asked why taxpayer funded staff were required to take pictures of the prime ministerial pets, a Downing Street spokesperson said photographers “document the work of not just the prime minister but the whole of the Cabinet”. A Labour source said: “The government has made such a dog’s dinner of issues from the border response to kids’ education, Dilyn would be a marked improvement and probably waste less taxpayers’ cash.” Recommended Carrie Symonds to start job with animal charity in return to work after birth of son While salaries of the photographers caused a headache for No 10, the images themselves that prompted a breach in Downing Street's security - with one displaying the phone number of the prime minister’s fiancé, Carrie Symonds. Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said: “The public will be rightly questioning why there is apparently no limit on the money that can be found to pay for a coterie of vanity photographers for the prime minister.” Asked why press photographers could not do the job, the Downing Street spokesman said: “It is obviously important that we record the activity of the government and… we make these pictures available for editorial use.