Top Tory Ben Goldsmith has faced calls to quit his role at the Department of the Environment after he supported Extinction Rebellion protestors blockading fuel depots.
Conservative MPs were furious that the Defra board member, the brother of government minister Zac Goldsmith, said the activists were right to do "whatever it takes".
Hundreds of anti-fossil fuel protestors have been arrested in recent days with police criticising their "exceptionally dangerous" road-blocking tactics.