BORIS Johnson is today desperately battling to cling on as he stares down his enemies at a crunch Commons showdown.
The PM came out fighting in Parliament after a morning from hell as yet more ministers resigned and said it was time for him to go.
Four ministers all quit before lunchtime while a slew of Tory MPs called on the PM to fall on his sword.
But the defiant PM tried to show it was business as usual by opening PMQs by hailing today’s National Insurance tax tweaks.
It came after Will Quince and Robin Walker left their jobs as education ministers while Treasury minister John Glen followed Rishi Sunak out the door.
Home Office Minister Vicky Atkins also left blasting: “I can no longer pirouette around our fractured values.”
More resignations are expected to flood in today as the PM’s enemies smell blood and seize their chance to push him out of No10.
Mr Johnson is desperately clinging on after Mr Sunak and Sajid Javid spectacularly wielded the knife yesterday with devastating Cabinet resignations.
And at 3.30pm he will endure further probing by a firing squad of senior MPs eager to haul the embattled PM over the coals.
In key developments:
- New Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi rushed out to defend the PM
- He dangled the prospect of tax cuts to win round Tory MPs
- Sajid Javid is expected to make a resignation statement after PMQs
- Cabinet Minister Steve Barclay was appointed Health Secretary
- Universities Minister Michelle Donelan was promoted to Education Secretary
- Twelve people have so far resigned from the government
- More Tory MPs submitted letters of no confidence including Red Wall stalwart Lee Anderson
Desperate to stem the tide of rebellion after being ambushed with Mr Quince’s resignation live on air, new Chancellor Mr Zahawi toured TV studios urging MPs to throw down their knives.
He said: “All I would say to my colleagues is people don’t vote for divided teams.”
It came after rising start Tory MP Ms Trott quit as an aide to the Transport Secretary.
She said that “trust in politics is – and must always be – of the upmost importance, but sadly in recent months this has been lost”.
Mr Quince quit as children’s minister after being sent out earlier in the week to defend the PM over the Chris Pincher scandal.
The line the Tory MP was given by No10 later turned out to be incorrect.
