Sir Gus O'Donnell slams No 10 over David Cameron's attack on officials

Downing Street has been rebuked by Britain's top civil servant for a David Cameron speech attacking officials as "enemies of enterprise".

Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell told No 10 to "calm things down" after senior officials reacted with fury to the Prime Minister's outspoken attack on bureaucrats.

Levels of anger in Whitehall were so high that Sir Gus demanded an explanation in front of a meeting of permanent secretaries, the Civil Service mandarins who run each government department.

It led to Jeremy Heywood, the permanent secretary at No 10, accepting that the speech had been badly handled. He claimed that Mr Cameron had not intended his words to generate headlines attacking the Civil Service.

The row is one of the most serious disagreements yet between long-serving Sir Gus and Mr Cameron.