Johnson refuses to quit

Boris Johnson has refused to quit as British prime minister, despite a slew of resignations from his scandal-hit government piling on pressure, as he faces a grilling from angry MPs.

The 58-year-old leader promised to "deliver" on his "mandate" but his grip on power appears to be slipping following 10 short minutes on Tuesday, when Rishi Sunak resigned as finance minister and Sajid Javid quit as health secretary.

Both said they could no longer tolerate the culture of scandal that has stalked Johnson for months, including lockdown lawbreaking in Downing Street that enraged the public who followed the rules.

At the weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions in parliament, MPs from all sides rounded on Johnson.

But brushing off calls to resign, he told MPs: "Frankly, the job of a prime minister in difficult circumstances when you have been handed a colossal mandate is to keep going and that's what I'm going to do."

Johnson has suffered an exodus of ministers in just 24 hours. Sunak and Javid's departures came just minutes after Johnson apologized for appointing a senior Conservative, who quit his post last week after he was accused of drunkenly groping two men.

Former education secretary Nadhim Zahawi was immediately handed the finance brief. "You don't go into this job to have an easy life," Zahawi said.

Days of shifting explanations had followed the resignation of deputy chief whip Chris Pincher. Downing Street at first denied Johnson knew of prior allegations against Pincher when appointing him in February.

But that defense collapsed after a former top civil servant said Johnson, as foreign minister, was told in 2019 about another incident involving his ally.

Minister for children and families Will Quince quit yesterday, saying he was given the inaccurate information before having to defend the government in a round of media interviews on Monday.

That triggered a new wave of more than a dozen resignations, and the withdrawal of support from previously loyal MPs.

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, a strident Johnson critic, said: "I and a lot of the party now are determined that he will be gone by the summer recess [starting on July 22]. The sooner the better."

The resignations dominated the British media, with even some of Johnson's staunchest newspaper backers doubting whether he could survive the fall-out.

Other senior cabinet ministers, including Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, still back Johnson but many were wondering how long that may last.

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