Boris’ Cabinet collapses as Rishi and Javid quit in devastating double hammer blow to PM
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Going public with their statements just minutes apart, the two senior ministers attacked their boss’s conduct in office, warning there was a need for change at the top.
There has been mounting pressure on Mr Johnson over the past days after it emerged he had appointed Tory MP Chris Pincher to a key welfare position in Government despite being aware of specific allegations of sexual assault against him.
Furious backbench Conservatives had been demanding members of the Prime Minister’s top team resign in a bid to force out the Tory leader.
In his letter of resignation, Mr Sunak said “the public rightly expect Government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously”, adding “I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning.”
Meanwhile, Mr Javid wrote: “We may not have always been popular, but we have been competent in acting in the national interest.
“Sadly, in the current circumstances, the public are concluding that we are now neither.”
Mr Johnson had spent this afternoon franticly holding conversations with his MPs in Parliament tea rooms in a bid to shore up their support amid the growing anger among the party.
In a TV interview, conducted just moments before the resignations were confirmed, the Prime Minister apologised for hiring Mr Pincher to his Government role.
He said: “In hindsight, it was the wrong thing to do.
“I apologise to everyone who’s been badly affected by it.”
More to follow…
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