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National
Dan O'Donoghue

Downing Street dismisses calls for Boris Johnson to step down sooner

Downing Street has dismissed calls from Tory MPs for Boris Johnson to hand the reins of power to his deputy Dominic Raab.

After the Prime Minister announced he would be stepping down following a slew of scandals, many of his backbenchers called for an immediate exit.

Senior MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown this morning said in an “ideal world” Mr Raab would become caretaker prime minister while a new Tory leader is found.

Read more: 'He leaves behind a legacy of lies and incompetence', North East MPs react to Boris Johnson's exit

But Mr Johnson's spokesman gave short shrift to the suggestion this afternoon, saying: "The Prime Minister is acting in line with with convention.

"He remains Prime Minister until a new party leader is in place, and the work of government will continue.

The spokesman said during his remaining time in office, Mr Johnson would not move to “unpick previously agreed policy”, though a “responsible Government” must react to emerging issues.

He said: “The Prime Minister set out to Cabinet yesterday that essentially the Government will focus on delivering pre-agreed policy, delivering on the manifesto commitments.

“It won’t seek to make any large fiscal changes, nor will it seek to unpick previously-agreed policy.”

Asked whether the Government would react to situations such as supply shocks and rising energy prices, the official said: “The Government would not seek to do anything on the fiscal side, particularly those that would have significant impact for a future prime ministers.

“Now, a responsible Government does need to react to emerging issues, but I would point out that we do have significant support already in place for the global cost of living pressures that we are seeing, including measures which have not yet been introduced”.

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