Merriman on Wednesday afternoon (6 July) withdrew his support for the prime minister and submitted a letter of no confidence in his leadership
“If the prime minister has any dignity left he will realise what’s happening, what he’s created, the buck stops with him and he will stand down,” Merriman told the BBC. He added he had “lost all faith”.
In a statement, Merriman said events in the past few days amounted to a failure of Johnson’s “judgment, competence and integrity”. “This tells me lessons have not been learnt," he continued.
Merriman added: “We cannot continue like this. I now believe the prime minister’s position is untenable and I can no longer support his continued leadership.”
He called for a leadership contest to oust Johnson, adding: “I hope he will reflect and stand down before this occurs.”
Merriman, who published his letter via Twitter while actively questioning Johnson at parliament’s liaison committee on Wednesday afternoon, was speaking after two parliamentary private secretaries, Nicola Richards MP and Laura Trott MP, quit the DfT citing "poor judgement" and a loss of trust in politics respectively.
Johnson was left reeling in parliament on Wednesday when three Tory MPs called on him to resign, while former health secretary Sajid Javid made a damning personal statement.
Javid said he had been “personally assured” there were no parties in Downing Street and no rules had been broken, saying he had “continued to give the benefit of the doubt”. He had lost faith in Johnson, he said. “At some point we have to conclude enough is enough. I believe that point is now.”
Javid said the reset button “can only work so many times”, adding: “The public expects us all to maintain honesty and integrity in whatever we do.”
The former health secretary said others had chosen not to resign from the government, but stressed: “Not doing something is an active decision.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer also criticised those still defending Johnson: “The country deserves better than a Z list of nodding dogs,” he said.
A defiant Johnson said: “The job of a prime minister in difficult circumstances when he has been handed a colossal mandate is to keep going.”
