BORIS Johnson should step aside and make way for a leader who can bring clarity to what Conservative values are, a Tory MP has said.
Derek Thomas, the MP for St Ives, said he knocked on door after door in Tiverton and Honiton during the recent by-election only to be met by disgruntled Tories.
He says grassroot voters have been left frustrated by Boris Johnson’s lack of vision.
Mr Thomas told GB News: “Every door where Tory voters were staying at home it was about concerns at Number 10. It wasn’t about Partygate it was just they needed a clear vision that came across door after door.”
Outlining his hopes for a change at the top he told Gloria De Piero: “I voted for the no confidence motion in the Prime Minister.
“My view is we do need a change of leadership. He has massive talents, but we’ve got to get someone who can bring clarity about what Conservative values are what I stood for many years ago.”
Mr Thomas’ comments come amid reports the PM is set to break a flagship manifesto commitment on defence spending, amid calls for an increase to the budget in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
On the eve of a Nato summit in Madrid, where Western countries will agree to boost their forces on the alliance’s border with Russia, ministers are set to miss their target of increasing defence spending by 0.5 per cent above inflation every year.
According to the Daily Telegraph Ben Wallace has privately made the case to the Treasury and Downing Street that the war in Ukraine justifies more spending on troops and kit.
The Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto said ministers would “continue to exceed the Nato target of spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence and increase the budget by at least 0.5 per cent above inflation every year of the new Parliament”.
But a Government source said the pledge is no longer sustainable because of the cost of dealing with the Covid pandemic.
Mr Johnson’s official spokesman said he was “committed to that and the 2 per cent,” but Whitehall sources admitted it would not happen.
Yesterday Mr Johnson said “the price of freedom is worth paying” when asked about the cost of helping defend Ukraine.
Speaking from a G7 summit, he argued that letting Russia “get away with” invading Ukraine would have “chilling” consequences and lead to instability.
Likening the conflict to defeating Nazi Germany in World War Two, the PM said that war had been “very expensive” but delivered “long term stability”.
It comes as the Ukrainian president calls for more military support.
Over a video link, Volodymyr Zelensky told the leaders of the world’s advanced democracies at the summit that his country needed more anti-aircraft defence systems to help repel Russia’s invasion.
He also said they needed to impose more sanctions to keep the pressure on Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
