‘In the name of god, go!’: David Davis tells Johnson to resign at PMQs
Senior Tory MP David Davis has called for Boris Johnson to resign in a fiery Prime Minister’s Questions, telling the beleaguered PM “in the name of god, go”.
Davis said Johnson has not taken responsibility for the Downing Street parties saga and that his time was up.
It comes as rumours swirl about a potential no-confidence vote in Johnson and in the wake of Bury South MP Christian Wakeford defecting from the Tories to Labour today.
“I expect my leaders to shoulder the responsibility for the actions they take,” Davis said.
“Yesterday he did the opposite of that. I’ll remind him of a quotation altogether too familiar to him of Leo Amery to Neville Chamberlain.
“You have sat there for too long. For all the good you’ve done, in the name of god, go.”
Johnson rebuked Davis’ call and said “I think I’ve told this house repeatedly throughout this pandemic, I take full responsibility for everything done in the government and throughout the cabinet”.
The Prime Minister was under considerable pressure during PMQs today as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and an array of opposition MPs called for him to resign over the Downing Street parties scandal.
In what is being called the “pork pie putsch”, 20 Tory MPs from the 2019 intake yesterday met to discuss sending in letters of no-confidence to the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers.
If 54 letters are sent in by Tory MPs to committee chair Graham Brady a no-confidence vote will be held by the Conservative party and it has been speculated that between 20 and 30 have already been sent.
The rebellion is being called the “pork pie putsch” as it is being led by Alicia Kearns – MP for Rutland and Melton – with Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison and West Dorset MP Chris Loder also leading the charge.
Starmer repeatedly quipped that Johnson was about to be displaced by his own MPs, saying in reference to his staff filling suitcases with booze for lockdown-breaking parties that “at least his staff at Number 10 know how to pack a suitcase”.
“While Labour was setting out plans to heat homes, he was buying a fridge to keep the party wine chilled,” he said.
“While we were setting out plans to keep bills down, he was planning parties. And while we were setting out plans to save jobs in the steel industry, he was trying to save just one job – his own.
“Doesn’t the country deserve so much better than this out-of-touch, out-of-control, out-of-ideas and soon to be out-of-office prime minister?”