Tory MP claims No 10 ‘blackmailing’ rebels as Wakeford says funding was threatened before he defected – live

Latest updates: Christian Wakeford says he was threatened with funding cut; William Wragg urges alleged victims to speak to police

• Tory defector says whips told him to back PM or lose school funds
• Ministers attempting to blackmail opponents of PM, alleges Tory MP
• PM being urged to quit by senior Tory is damaging', admits Javid
• No 10 to talk to Tracey Emin about removal of More Passion artwork
• Coronavirus - latest global updates

Plaid Cymru is calling for a police investigation into the Wragg allegations. (See 10.19am.) In a statement Liz Saville Roberts, the party's leader at Westminster, said:

When levelling up' morphs into blackmail' - this is how the Tory UK government uses threats to withhold public money to browbeat its MPs into supine obedience.

Levelling up funds to tackle inequality? Of course not, just to keep Prime Minister Johnson in Number 10.

It is simply remarkable that a prime minister could countenance scrapping local projects and funding if MPs refuse to back him.

All Boris Johnson cares about is saving his own skin. He's acting more like a mafia boss than a prime minister.