Conservative MPs have demanded one of their colleagues should retire after he blocked a late-night motion that would have overturned the controversial Owen Paterson vote.

       Christopher Chope, the MP for Christchurch, blocked a motion rescinding the Leadsom Amendment that would have saved Mr Paterson from a six-week suspension while setting up a new standards committee and appeals process. MPs will now debate the issue for an hour today.

       Mr Chope is a long-time objector to bills going through on the nod, having blocked the upskirting bill and a law banning FGM on the same basis.

       This morning fellow backbenchers told The Telegraph the mood towards their colleague was "venomous", with several suggesting he should quit or risk being deselected.

       One said: "He should have retired years ago."

       Another said: "His rationale [for objecting] is not widely followed by the public - it's really not helpful. The problem is, it's a matter for his electorate (like with second jobs) as to whether he is representing them or not."

       But the move has provoked some hubris among opposition MPs.

       Thangam Debbonaire, shadow Commons leader, said it was a "farce of the Tories’ own making and serves Boris Johnson right for trying to sneak a U-turn out at night rather than do the decent thing and come to the House to apologise for the Tory sleaze scandal".

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       Boris Johnson should channel John Major in looking to clear up Tory sleaze, Gus O'Donnell has said.

       The former cabinet secretary, who served under the ex-prime minister in the 1990s, is one of five to have called for stronger powers for the prime minister’s ethics adviser.

       Mr O'Donnell told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was a "very timely moment" for the Boris Johnson to adopt recommendations made in a report by the committee on standards in public life and bolster the standards regime.

       "When John Major was faced with all sorts of sleaze issues, he set up systems to improve integrity and trust in public life," he added. "We would like the Prime Minister to look at this report and institute their recommendations."

       But asked if an overhaul of the rules would be enough, he added: "You can do quite a lot by rules and legislation by forcing people to behave in certain ways but ideally you want people who have a strong instinct for public sector ethos and obeying the rules.

       "Good people make for good government," Mr O'Donnell said.

       The shadow home secretary has suggested there might be need for a judge-led inquiry into so-called "lone wolf" attackers.

       Speaking on BBC Breakfast the day after the terror threat level was raised, Nick Thomas-Symonds urged caution in "drawing conclusions too quickly about the background of the perpetrator in this case", noting that "different details will emerge over time and we need to get that full picture to make an assessment in this particular instance as to whether more could have been done".

       He added: "We don't know the specific conclusions in the case in Liverpool yet as to whether someone was acting alone or in concert, and I'm not for a moment drawing that conclusion too prematurely.

       "But I do think we need to be looking at the attacks that have taken place. Do we need something like a judge-led inquiry to look at the issue of lone attackers? And we need now, as I say, to get this investigation concluded as swiftly as possible, and then to look at the wider conclusions that perhaps we need to draw."

       The number of UK workers on company payrolls surged by 160,000 last month and there was no sign of a jump in redundancies despite the furlough support scheme coming to an end, according to official figures.

       The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said payrolled workers jumped by 0.6% between September and October to 29.3 million - "well above" levels seen before the pandemic struck.

       The unemployment rate also fell once more to 4.3 per cent between July to September, down from 4.5% between June and August, in spite of the furlough scheme coming to an end on September 30.

       Rishi Sunak said the latest jobs figures were "testament to the extraordinary success of the furlough scheme".

       The Chancellor added: "We know how vital keeping people in good jobs is, both for them and for our economy - which is why it's fantastic to see the unemployment rate falling for nine months in a row and record numbers of people moving into employment."

       It's not quite Arnold Schwarzenegger, but Chris Bryant has promised "I'll be there" for today's debate on sleaze, which was forced after Christopher Chope blocked a motion last night.

       The chairman of the standards committee - who is one of several senior MPs to be grilling Boris Johnson during tomorrow's liaison committee hearing - has taken a dim view of the whole row.

       He said last night: "Unfortunately, because a single MP objected to the motion endorsing the committee on standards report on Owen Paterson, the house has still not resolved this matter.

       "The govt will have to bring it forward ASAP wit time allocated, if the house isn’t to fall into further disrepute."

       He later added:

       Efforts to block a bid to endorse the investigation into former MP Owen Paterson and scrap controversial standards reforms were "breathtaking", the shadow home secretary has said.

       Speaking the morning after Christopher Chope blocked a motion rescinding the controversial Leadsom Amendment, Nick Thomas-Symonds told LBC: "We've had a situation first of all where Owen Paterson, who was then one of the Government's senior backbench MPs, was found very clearly to have broken the rules.

       "The Government has firstly avoided endorsing that report by frankly ripping up the rules and deciding just because the Government didn't like the conclusion that had been drawn, it would change the system.

       "We now are in a situation where, unbelievably, another of the Government's backbenchers still won't accept the conclusion of the report."

       Levelling up is "infused in everything the Government does", a minister has insisted, despite the Government's expected decision to scrap the eastern leg of HS2 between the Midlands and Leeds.

       Red Wall Tory MPs are up in arms over the expected announcement, which they fear will lose them support in seats where support for the Conservatives is already ebbing.

       Damian Hinds, the security minister, said he could not comment ahead of the Integrated Rail Plan's expected release on Thursday.

       But he told Sky News: "We're absolutely committed to levelling up, I think that runs through... is infused in everything Government does, transport also is part of that, and so and so many other things.

       "On the specifics of the railways, we're going to have to wait for the integrated rail review."

       An investigation will be carried out into allegations made against the Prime Minister's father "if that's the appropriate course of action", a minister has said.

       Asked about the allegations against Stanley Johnson (see posts below), Damian Hinds told Times Radio: "I don't know obviously about the ... I've heard this morning, as you have, or overnight, about this, about these allegations.

       "I can say that, overall, in terms of the safety of women and girls, and being free from harassment wherever they are at home, at work, in the street, and online, this is an absolute top priority for the Government," the security minister said.

       "But I'm not joining a link between that and at this because we don't know, but if there is an investigation to be had, then, of course, that will happen."

       He added: "If there is an investigation to be had, if that is the appropriate course of action, then of course that will happen."

       Caroline Nokes claim that Stanley Johnson "smacking" her on the backside has prompted a female journalist to also accuse the Prime Minister's father of having groped her.

       Ailbha Rae, political correspondent at the New Statesman, claimed the incident happened just two years ago.

       A senior Conservative MP has accused Stanley Johnson of inappropriately touching them.

       Caroline Nokes, the chair of the Commons women and equalities committee, suggested that the Prime Minister's father inappropriately touched her during the Conservative Party conference in Blackpool 2003 ahead of Mr Johnson running in the Teignbridge seat in Devon in 2005.

       "I've had male MPs stick their hands on my backside in Strangers' Bar (in Parliament)," the former minister said during a panel discussion. And I can remember a really prominent man smacking me on the backside about as hard as he could and going, 'Oh, Romsey, you've got a lovely seat'.

       "Stanley Johnson did that to me ahead of the '05 election, so it was Blackpool... 2003/4.

       "I didn't do anything and I feel ashamed by that... now I probably would."

       Mr Johnson declined to comment about her allegation made to Sky News, other than to say he has "no recollection of Caroline Nokes at all".

       Lockdown may have "exacerbated" the number of people self-radicalising online, the defence minister has said.

       Speaking the day after the terror threat level was increased, in the wake of the Liverpool attack and murder of Sir David Amess, Damian Hinds said there were "multiple times when we are protected from this, there've been over 30 late-stage plot disruptions in the last few years".

       He told Sky New: "During lockdown there have been more people spending more time in front of computer screens and when that happens, a small minority - very small - can be radicalised."

       He added: "Changes we saw through coronavirus, through lockdown, will have exacerbated and increased the amount of time they spend online."

       European nations must choose between “mainlining” Russian gas and defending peace in Ukraine, Boris Johnson said on Monday amid escalating tensions with the Kremlin.

       The Prime Minister’s message, contained in his pre-written Mansion House speech, appeared especially aimed at Germany, which has championed the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

       Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, has pushed ahead with the gas pipeline between Russia and Europe, despite US and UK opposition, but will soon be leaving office.

       The intervention came as Russian troops continued to gather near Ukraine, prompting fears of an imminent invasion, and tensions over migration escalated at the Polish-Belarus border.

       Boris Johnson's hopes of drawing a line under the sleaze row have been thwarted by one of his own backbenchers, after Christopher Chope objected to the motion last night.

       The PM is also faced with some rather serious allegations about his own father groping a Tory MP and a female journalist - the latter happening just two years ago.

       Meanwhile, further details are emerging from Liverpool.

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