Sajid Javid has said he resigned after concluding “enough is enough” of Boris Johnson’s Downing Street operation.
The former Tory Health Secretary told the Commons he had given the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt on partygate, but added “I do fear that the reset button can only work so many times”.
In a devastating speech, designed to undermine the Prime Minister without destroying him completely, Javid aimed to shake down the remaining support for Johnson on the Tory benches.
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In an emotional address, Javid said treading the “tightrope” between “loyalty and integrity” had become “impossible” in recent months following a series of scandals.
He said: “When the first stories of parties in Downing Street emerged late last year I was personally assured at the most senior level by my right honourable friend’s then team that, and I quote, ‘there had been no parties in Downing Street and no rules were broken’.
“So I gave the benefit of doubt. And I went on those media rounds to say that I’d had those assurances from the most senior level of the Prime Minister’s team.
“Then we had more stories. We had the Sue Gray report, a new Downing Street team. I continued to give the benefit of the doubt.”
He added: “But I do fear that the reset button can only work so many times. There’s only so many times you can turn that machine on and off before you realise that something is fundamentally wrong.”
He told MPs: “I also believe a team is as good as its team captain and a captain is as good as his or her team. So, loyalty must go both ways.
“The events of recent months have made it increasingly difficult to be in that team. It’s not fair on ministerial colleagues to go out every morning defending lines that don’t stand up and don’t hold up.
“It’s not fair on my parliamentary colleagues, who bear the brunt of constituents’ dismay in their inboxes and on the doorsteps in recent elections.
“And it’s not fair on Conservative members and voters who rightly expect better standards from the party they supported.”
Javid said he would “never lose his integrity” and that following the allegations over Chris Pincher and what the prime minister knew, he had enough.
He said: “And at some point we have to conclude that enough is enough. I believe that point is now.”
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