A Tory MP gave a devastating speech on the "toxic" atmosphere Boris Johnson's leadership has created within the Conservative party.
William Wragg said the Ukraine situation is of "huge importance" but the invasion of a nation by a "dictatorial aggressor should not be a reason why we should accept lower standards ourselves".
Mr Wragg urged his colleagues to "say what you mean, and mean what you say" before noting he had long submitted his letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson's leadership to the 1922 Committee.
The revelation comes as Mr Johnson is on a trip to India in a bid to forget about his domestic woes.
The Tory MP, like Labour leader Keir Starmer, reflected on Allegra Stratton's resignation in the wake of a humiliating video emerging of her joking about a lockdown party in a mock press conference.
On Wednesday during PMQs, Mr Starmer noted Ms Stratton, the PM's former Press Secretary resigned after she laughed about lockdown parties, and he questioned why the PM hasn't resigned after receiving his first Partygate fine.
In the Commons during a debate on whether the Prime Minister should be referred to the Privileges Committee, Mr Wragg said "it is utterly depressing, defending the indefensible", before adding "each time, a part of us withers".
"We have been working in a toxic atmosphere. there can be few colleagues who are truly enjoying being members of Parliament at the moment."
In the same debate, Conservative MP John Baron said he was “deeply unhappy at the way Number 10 has performed over this period”, but said “that committee needs to weigh all evidence before coming to a decision, and that includes the Sue Gray report.”
Mr Starmer said the motion for an investigation into the Prime Minister’s conduct was about the principle of “honesty, integrity and telling the truth”, which he said is “a principle under attack”.
But he warned that not supporting proposals to refer the Prime Minister to a parliamentary investigation over partygate would mean MPs were complicit in allowing standards to slip.
The Labour leader said: “If we don’t pass this motion, if we don’t take this opportunity to restate the principles, then we are all complicit in allowing these standards to slip.
"We are all complicit in allowing the public to think we are all the same, nobody tells the truth, that there are alternative sets of facts.”
