Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has claimed Rishi Sunak is being “bullied” by his own MPs and he used PMQs to mock the prime minister after a fresh Tory civil war erupted.

       Sir Keir said that Mr Sunak was “endlessly” fighting with his own party and that the more “they slag him off behind his back, the louder they cheer in here.”

       It comes after Liz Truss ally Sir Simon Clarke claimed that the Conservative Party could face “extinction” unless the prime minister resigns.

       Sir Simon, who served in the Treasury under Mr Sunak, made the intervention in the Daily Telegraph to urge his colleagues to sack the PM ahead of the looming general election, arguing that he “has sadly gone from asset to anchor”.

       Tory MPs have rounded on Sir Simon’s attempted coup, branding his move against Mr Sunak as “silly” and “facile” - while another called him a “self indulgent tosser”.

       A senior Conservative MP told The Independent that Sir Simon was “flying a kite that’s already broken” and that they did not expect fellow right-wingers to join his rebellion.