Boris Johnson defied calls to resign despite a fresh wave of ministerial resignations and signs that support on the Tory backbenches is ebbing away.
At Prime Minister’s Questions Mr Johnson said the “colossal mandate” he had been handed by voters in 2019 meant he should keep going despite the “difficult circumstances” he faced.
But Tory MP Gary Sambrook told Mr Johnson directly: “There is nothing left for him but to take responsibility and resign.”
Hospitals
But it was a brilliant question by Labour MP Andy Slaughter that might have been missed in the turmoil of today’s PMQs
The has consistently claimed that the government is building 40 new hospitals.
However, Boris Johnson’s election pledge to build 40 new hospitals by 2030 is facing a review by the Government’s official spending watchdog.
The National Audit Office (NAO) is planning a “value for money review” that could consider increasing costs due to spiralling inflation and whether the hospitals will in fact be new.
The investigation emerged in a letter to shadow health secretary Wes Streeting from NAO comptroller Gareth Davies after the Labour MP warned of a waste of taxpayers’ money.
So with this in mind Slaughter asked the PM: On the “40 new hospitals’ pledge. Two of which, in his constituency, opened in 1902 and 1816.
“Like all his promises, they exist only in his warped imagination. As this is likely to be his last #PMQs, will he finally tell the truth?”
Watch
Related: Watch: Starmer brands Johnson a ‘pathetic spectacle’ in ‘dying act of political career’