Theresa May will have the have the backing of Tory MPs if she sacked disloyal ministers for plotting and briefing, a senior backbencher has said. Charles Walker, vice chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, reportedly told ministers to "stop chattering away".
Earlier the PM told her cabinet to show "strength and unity" as she attempted to stem the leaks, the BBC reported. She also told Tory MPs to end the "backbiting" over disagreements within the party on Brexit and other issues.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's The World at One, Mr Walker said that aside from a few "outliers", the party was united behind Mrs May - adding that those plotting were "not doing themselves any favours at all".
"I do not care about people's personal ambitions," he reportedly said.
"If the prime minister has to start removing secretaries of state because they are not focusing on their job, they are focusing on their own personal ambitions, so be it. And she will have the support of the 1922 Committee."
Mrs May's attempt to instil discipline follows a sustained outbreak of cabinet leaks and leadership gossip, the UK newspapers have reported.
According to her spokesman, the PM told cabinet at its regular Tuesday meeting: "There's a need to show strength and unity as a country and that starts around the cabinet table."
