If the Conservative party hasn’t got room for Ken Clarke and Philip Hammond and 19 others, there is also a message there to millions of people who vote Conservative, that it’s not a party for them. If you go down a divisive route, the scars will be very deep.

Boris Johnson was elected on a strategy that went down well with members, but was inevitably going to collide with reality and unravel. And it’s happened more quickly than it might have done, for reasons for which he and his team are responsible.

I don’t like the idea of being chucked out of parliament, chucked out of the party, for basically doing the bleeding obvious: trying to stop an absolutely damaging policy, that a responsible political party should be opposing vigorously.

David Gauke Quotes