Sajjd Javid admits PM has been 'damaged' as MPs delay coup bid

Sajid Javid admitted Boris Johnson has been 'damaged' today after the PM fended off the 'Pork Pie' plot to oust him - but possibly only for a few days.

The immediate threat to the premier from Partygate has receded after the defection of Red Wall MP Christian Wakeford to Labour shocked the Tories into closing ranks.

Meanwhile, ministers have shrugged off an extraordinary attack from veteran David Davis at PMQs yesterday, in which he ordered Mr Johnson to 'in the name of God, go'.

But restive MPs have warned that Mr Johnson has only been given a stay of execution, with many holding off on deciding whether to send no-confidence letters to the chair of the powerful 1922 committee until after an inquiry by top civil servant Sue Gray reports.

There are claims that while Ms Gray will not directly criticise Mr Johnson it could paint a very grim picture of his Downing Street operation. 'It's not going to be as good as people think,' a government source told the Times. 'She's genuinely struggling to reconcile the prime minister's claim that this was a work event with what she's been hearing from other people. It's very difficult for her.'

Meanwhile, rumours are swirling that five more Tories are in talks with Labour about defecting, as polls suggest many in the Red Wall face losing their seats at the next election.

In a round of interviews this morning, Mr Javid made little effort to varnish the challenge faced by the PM.

'It is damaging, of course it is,' the Health Secretary told Sky News.

Mr Javid said 'there were some parties' and people were 'right to be angry', insisting those who broke the rules should be 'disciplined'. He singled out the leaving bashes in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral last April as 'wrong in every single way'.

He also stated bluntly that if Mr Johnson is found to have broken the law he will have to go.

'The Ministerial Code is very clear. If any minister from the Prime Minister down breaks the law, of course they shouldn't continue to serve as a minister,' he said.

'What I have just said is a general rule that applies to everyone. There is no exception to that rule.'    

As the Downing Street machine finally cranked into gear yesterday, No10 said Mr Johnson will fight any no-confidence vote launched against him and insisted he expects to fight the next general election.

He has been personally meeting wavering MPs in a bid to shore up support on his back benches. 

Tory whips yesterday launched a concerted drive to crush the Pork Pie Plot, which acquired its name because of the involvement of Melton Mowbray MP Alicia Kearns.

The plotters suggested that by 5pm yesterday the target of 54 letters needed to force a vote of no confidence in the PM would be passed. But the deadline came and went.

One Cabinet loyalist last night said the enormity of the plot was giving wavering MPs pause for thought.

'The sight of one of your own crossing the floor to join Labour reminds people how high the stakes are,' the source said. 'People are also having to face the question of what happens next. There is not a Boris figure to rally round who would do better electorally.' 

Andrew Percy, Brigg and Goole MP, told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'It's kind of made people a bit more relaxed, it's calmed nerves.

'I think people have recognised that actually this constant navel gazing and internal debating is only to the advantage of our political opponents.

'The Prime Minister is probably thanking Christian for what he did because it's made a lot of people think again, think twice.'

Despite the temporary reprieve, the anger from a former minister first elected in 1987 and Mr Wakeford, elected to the so-called Red Wall seat of Bury South two years ago, showed the breadth of the fury in the party.

One Cabinet source said the mutineers had 'overplayed their hand', adding: 'They are inexperienced and it has shown in the past 24 hours.' 

Several wavering Tory MPs yesterday said they were waiting to see the report before deciding whether to move against Mr Johnson.

Andrew Bowie, a former vice-chairman of the party, said: 'I think the Prime Minister should be considering his position, but my position is that we need to wait and see what the facts were.' Downing Street had hoped that Miss Gray's report would be published this week to give the PM the chance to draw a line under the affair.

But Whitehall sources yesterday said the constant drip-drip of new allegations, including from Mr Cummings, meant it would be delayed.

Rebel Andrew Bridgen, one of seven MPs to publicly declare they have submitted letters against the PM, predicted Mr Cummings would publish a slew of further allegations if a vote of confidence is triggered. 'Dominic Cummings will unleash everything in his arsenal at that point to finish him off,' he said. 

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Mr Davis said: 'The party is going to have to make a decision or we face dying a death of 1,000 cuts.'

The PM will appear to be 'shifting the blame' if he fires staff after senior civil servant Sue Gray delivers her inquiry into events held at No 10 during Covid restrictions, the Haltemprice and Howden MP said.

Then there will be the 'crises' of rising energy bills and the National Insurance hike being compounded by the 'disorganisation' at No 10, which could trigger a vote of no confidence at Christmas, meaning a 'year of agony', he continued.

'That's the worst outcome, particularly for the 2019 and 2017 and 2015 intake - that, slice by slice by slice, this carries on and we bump along at minus whatever and, even worse, we create policies to try to paper over it.'

Speaking shortly after his Commons outburst, Mr Davis admitted: 'I've just made myself the most unpopular person in the Tory party.

'Well, the second most unpopular. But I've gone from thinking maybe we can rescue it to maybe we just have to accelerate it and get it done.'  

Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg described David Davis as a 'lone wolf' as he downplayed the senior Tory MP's 'theatrical' call for Boris Johnson to resign.

Mr Rees-Mogg told Channel 4 News: 'He is a distinguished member of the Conservative Party but he's always been something of a lone wolf.

'No-one would call David a lightweight, he's a very serious political figure, but his comments today were too theatrical.' 

Mr Wakeford, who was elected in 2019 with a majority of just 402 votes, accused Mr Johnson of being 'incapable of offering the leadership and government this country deserves' as he switched sides.

Following a joint media appearance with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Mr Wakeford said the Tories are 'a party trying to defend the indefensible' as he explained his defection.

A Labour spokesman said the party had been in talks with Mr Wakeford for 'some time' and would welcome an election, after Mr Johnson said the Tories would win back Bury South.

He declined to say whether there are more Conservative MPs considering defecting, while the Prime Minister's press secretary said she was not aware of any.

However, embattled Boris Johnson was gifted some breathing space on Partygate on Wednesday night as Tories closed rank.

There are claims the flow of letters demanding a no-confidence vote has been stemmed after Mr Wakeford dramatically crossed the floor to join Keir Starmer.

Conservatives immediately focused their fury on the betrayal by the Red Wall MP, who has a wafer-thin majority of just 402 in Bury South. Meanwhile, Mr Davis' full-frontal attack also seemed to backfire. 

A Cabinet minister told MailOnline: 'The tribal nature of politics and the ''professional grump'' nature of David seems to have cooled the mood,' they said. 

Allies of Mr Johnson branded Mr Davis 'a loner', while another MP who has been increasingly frustrated at Mr Johnson's performance said he appeared to be 'back to his normal self'. 

'If you are going to tell the boss to resign you do it privately,' an ex-minister said. 'He is not a popular character. He is very prickly.'   

Amid what has been dubbed a 'Pork Pie plot' by 2019 intake politicians, Mr Wakeford already declared he had put in a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson. 

And he was on the Opposition benches this afternoon wearing a Union Jack face mask. In a parting shot letter to the premier, Mr Wakeford branded his leadership 'disgraceful' and said he believed Labour would do more to tackle the cost of living crisis. 

Sir Keir goaded Mr Johnson in the Commons that any more defectors were 'welcome', saying the Tories had shown they were 'incapable' of governing the country.

'The Labour Party has changed and so has the Conservative Party,' he said. 'He and anyone else who wants to build a new Britain built on decency, security … is welcomed in my Labour Party.' 

But Mr Johnson, who was flanked by Rishi Sunak and Priti Patel on the front bench, shot back: 'As for Bury South, let me say to him, the Conservative Party won Bury South for the first time in a generation under this Prime Minister on an agenda of of uniting and levelling up and delivering for the people of Bury South. We will win again in Bury South.' 

Mr Johnson insisted he was not going to resign, urging people to 'wait for the outcome' of the inquiry by senior civil servant Sue Gray. 

The government has been ramping up 'Operation Red Meat' with crowd-pleasing policies in an effort to quell the mutiny.

And in the latest phase this afternoon Mr Johnson revealed that a swathe of Covid rules are going, with the work from home order immediately axed. 

Masks will also not be compulsory from next week, he said - in a move that was cheered by Tory MPs. 

Trying to sweep away the blunders over Partygate, Mr Johnson said: 'This government has got the big things right.' 

Meanwhile, No10 will have been relieved that no other Red Wallers immediately followed Mr Wakeford out of the door. Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison, one of the 'Pork Pie' rebels,  laughed off 'bulls***' suggestions she could switch to Labour or the Lib Dems.  

In the Commons, Mr Davis told Mr Johnson he had spent weeks defending him from 'angry constituents', including by reminding them of the 'successes of Brexit'.

He said: 'I expect my leaders to shoulder the responsibility for the actions they take. Yesterday he did the opposite of that. So, I will remind him of a quotation which may be familiar to his ear: Leopold Amery to Neville Chamberlain.

'You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. In the name of God, go.'

Amid gasps in the chamber, a seemingly shocked Mr Johnson replied: 'I must say to him, I don't know what he is talking about.

'What I can tell him – I don't know what quotation he is alluding to – what I can tell him is and I think have told this House repeatedly, I take full responsibility for

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