Johnson struggles to rally team as pressure on him builds up

Sajid Javid has joined Rishi Sunak in rejecting slur on Keir Starmer as two more MPs call for PM to go

Boris Johnson's attempts to rally his dilapidated top team floundered on Friday after a second cabinet minister distanced himself from the prime minister and two more Conservative MPs called for him to go.

In a bid to shore up support, Johnson wrote to MPs promising them a direct line to Downing Street", but his move came as Sajid Javid followed the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, in rejecting Johnson's remarks linking Starmer with the failure to prosecute paedophile Jimmy Savile.