Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid quit the cabinet

Rishi Sunak has joined Sajid Javid in resigning from the cabinet in a major blow to Boris Johnson’s hopes of clinging on to power. The Chancellor said in his letter to the PM: ‘I recognise this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning.’ He added that ‘in preparation for our proposed joint speech on the economy next week, it has become clear to me that our approaches are fundamentally too different.’

His decision to quit came moments after the health secretary also announced he was resigning from the government. Javid tweeted out that he had tendered his resignation, sharing his letter on Twitter. He wrote that ‘it has been an enormous privilege to serve in this role, but I regret that I can no longer continue in good conscience.’ He said:

I am instinctively a team player but the British people also rightly expect integrity from their government.