BURNLEY Tory MP Antony Higginbotham has said he can no longer support Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.

He spoke out this evening as senior Cabinet ministers went to 10 Downing Street to tell the Conservative leader to quit.

Mr Higginbotham's intervention followed his fellow 2019 intake MP, Hyndburn's Sara Britcliffe, resigning from her education Private Parliamentary Secretary post over Mr Johnson's behaviour.

The former aide in the education department joined more than 30 ministers and assistants giving up their jobs.

Mr Higginbotham, elected as part of the Brexit Red Wall wave who swept Boris Johnson to power in 2019, told the Lancashire Telegraph: "The decision I have taken today is incredibly difficult.

"Loyalty matters. But as the Member of Parliament for Burnley my first loyalty is, and always will be, to the public.

"It’s for that reason that I can no longer in good conscience continue supporting the current leader of my party.

"There will be some who agree with this position. And some who disagree. I hope, however, that all residents know that this is not a decision I came to easily. Nor should it have been.

"Changing the leader of our country is a monumental decision. But it is a decision I feel we must now make if we are to continue improving lives and livelihoods locally.

“When I stood to be Burnley's MP I did so because I had a vision, and a desire, to see a better Burnley and Padiham. One where we did things differently to make sure that people across our borough had the same opportunities as anywhere else within the UK.

"Nobody could have predicted what has happened over the last two and a half years and all the challenges that we have faced. Dealing with a deadly pandemic, a war on the European continent, and now a rising cost of living. It has been anything but an easy period.

"But despite all of this, we’ve made significant progress.

"Because in all my work the focus has remained the same. To deliver improvements for residents in every area of life.

"But, sadly, that focus has become increasingly difficult to maintain as all the talk moves towards the Prime Minister and his conduct.

"As many will be aware, I’ve stood by the PM.

"But our historic win in 2019, and delivering for our borough, is about more than one person. We have, for many months now, given the benefit of the doubt to the Prime Minister. And privately I and others have been pushing for changes in policy and approach. It has become clear we can no longer work on this basis."