In the name of God go, David Davis tells Boris Johnson

Former cabinet minister David Davis has joined calls for Boris Johnson to stand down, telling the prime minister: “In the name of God, go.”

He said the PM had failed to take responsibility for his actions over lockdown parties in Downing Street.

Mr Davis’s remarks came after backbench Tory MP Christian Wakeford defected to Labour, minutes before Prime Minister’s Questions began.

The PM batted away repeated calls to quit during the stormy Commons session.

Mr Davis’s criticisms and Mr Wakeford’s defection come as Mr Johnson fights to save his premiership after admitting attending a drinks event in Downing Street during the first lockdown.

So far six Conservative MPs have publicly declared no confidence in the PM, but more are thought to have submitted letters to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 committee, who organises Tory leadership contests.

There are claims that the threshold of 54 letters needed to trigger a no-confidence vote and leadership election could soon be reached, but no official word has been given.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, one of those who has called for Mr Johnson to quit, said a no-confidence vote was “near” and “getting closer”.

But a former cabinet minister told the BBC that Mr Wakeford’s defection seemed to be backfiring, as his actions had “provided an alternative target for rage” among Tory MPs.

Another Tory MP said he had been “let down by a good friend” and that his now ex-colleague had “unified the party”.

The prime minister is urging fellow Conservatives not to pass judgement on him until a report on parties at No 10, by senior civil servant Sue Gray, comes out next week.

In his letter to Mr Johnson, Bury South MP Mr Wakeford, said: “You and the Conservative Party as a whole have shown themselves incapable of offering the leadership and government this country deserves.”

The last MP to defect from the Conservatives to Labour was Quentin Davies in 2007, when Gordon Brown was prime minister.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer welcomed Mr Wakeford to his party and repeated his call for Mr Johnson to quit, saying his “absurd and unreliable defences” of No 10 parties were unravelling.

But the most dramatic intervention came towards the end of the session, when Mr Davis told Mr Johnson he had spent weeks defending him from “angry constituents”.

He added: “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.'”

Source: BBC