Ministers 'unaware of George Osborne's fuel tax decision' Government ministers were not told in advance of Chancellor George Osborne's £550 million decision to suspend the 3p hike in fuel duty, Downing Street indicated today. Asked when ministers learnt of the decision to delay the rise until at least January, Prime Minister David Cameron's official spokesman said: "It was announced to Parliament yesterday." Speculation that the Chancellor may not have warned his colleagues was sparked when junior Treasury minister Chloe Smith refused repeatedly to tell interviewer Jeremy Paxman when she was told. Mr Osborne was today branded a "coward" by a Conservative backbencher for sending Ms Smith onto BBC2's Newsnight to defend the policy shift. Mid-Bedfordshire MP Nadine Dorries - a vocal critic of the Tory leadership - said in a series of messages on Twitter: "If Osborne sent Chloe on re scrapping 3p he is a coward as well as arrogant. Newsnight last night would have been a tough gig for a minister with years of experience - Chloe is a good egg and didn't deserve that. The request for Newsnight should have been refused or given a pre-recorded interview. Paxman was doing his job, Osborne wasn't. Referring to regular backbench grumbles that Mr Osborne does not put himself on the frontline to fight the Government's case in the media, Ms Dorries added: "The submarine Chancellor sacrifices another minister whilst he slips under the surface... again." Mr Osborne's announcement during Treasury Questions in the Commons caused astonishment yesterday, as it came just a day after Transport Secretary Justine Greening publicly defended the fuel duty rise as an important part of the Government's deficit reduction strategy. As recently as last week, Mr Cameron appeared to pour cold water on motorists' hopes of a rethink, saying the planned rise would be "looked at," but adding that the Government "doesn't have a bottomless pit of money." Labour's shadow chancellor Ed Balls - who had urged the Chancellor to scrap the hike only that morning - claimed it as the latest in a series of Budget U-turns. In a widely-criticised appearance on Newsnight, Ms Smith, who was appointed economic secretary in October last year after just two years in the Commons, declined repeatedly to say when she was told the policy had changed, saying only: "As a minister in the Treasury I've been involved in discussions for some time. The Chancellor and the Prime Minister take those decisions. I'm not going to be able to give you a running commentary on exactly who said what and when. She said that the cost of the change would be covered by underspends from Whitehall departments, but declined to say which ones, telling Paxman: "It is not possible to give you a full breakdown at this point because the figure is evolving somewhat." When Ms Smith confirmed that cutting the deficit remained the number one priority of the coalition Government, Paxman responded: "Is this some sort of joke? How can you possibly have as a number one priority cutting the deficit when you choose to spend an underspend on funding a tax cut? Ms Smith replied: "The plan overall has not changed." Mr Cameron's spokesman was asked at a daily media briefing in Westminster this morning whether the PM still had confidence in Ms Smith. The spokesman replied: "Yes." Asked when she and other ministers were informed of the plan to delay the 3p rise, the spokesman said: "It was announced to Parliament yesterday. That is the usual process. The Chancellor of the Exchequer takes decisions on taxation and we announce those decisions to Parliament. The thing that most people think is important is the fact that we have taken this decision and as a result of action taken by this Government, prices are 10p lower than they would otherwise have been.