Boris: ‘No Evidence Of Blackmail Claims'

Boris Johnson is battling claims that Tory critics are facing "intimidation" which could amount to blackmail as part of an effort to keep him in office.

The Prime Minister insisted he had seen no evidence to support the incendiary claim made by William Wragg, the Tory chairman of the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.

Mr Wragg said he had received reports of conduct including “members of staff at 10 Downing Street, special advisers, government ministers and others encouraging the publication of stories in the press seeking to embarrass those who they suspect of lacking confidence in the Prime Minister.

The intimidation of a Member of Parliament is a serious matter. Reports of which I am aware would seem to constitute blackmail, he said at the start of a Commons committee hearing.