this is bbc world news. i'm tim willcox. our top stories: borisjohnson fights to survive as prime minister, as two big names resign from his cabinet in quick succession. rishi sunak is no longer chancellor, saying borisjohnson isn't competent or serious, while sajid javid resigns from health — questioning the prime minister's integrity. borisjohnson is accused of making several misleading statements about the case of chris pincher — the former minister accused of sexual misconduct. the cabinet which met this morning is now changed in significant ways, as borisjohnson fights to stay on. this is the scene live

in downing street. we will be getting the latest from westminster, the latest updates there, and all the reaction. hello and welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. it's been a day of high drama for lawmakers here in london, as two of the government's most senior ministers resigned from borisjohnson�*s cabinet within ten minutes of each other. the departures of the chancellor of the exchequer, rishi sunak, and the health minister, sajid javid, are a direct response to deepening misgivings over how the administration handled complaints about the former deputy chief whip chris pincher, who's been accused of sexual misconduct. there are now calls for the party's rules to change, to allow another leadership challenge

against borisjohnson himself. within the past couple of hours, it's been announced that nadhim zahawi will become the uk's new finance minister. steve barclay takes the post of heath secretary. we start our coverage of the day's tumultuous events with this report from our political editor chris mason. are we good? not according to the man on the right. sitting next to the prime minister this morning, the then—chancellor rishi sunak. a penny for his thoughts. we didn't need to wait long. in a letter to borisjohnson this evening, mr sunak said... you heard that right — the man who was chancellor until teatime saying the government is none of these things.

and he went further — policy, too. moments earlier, the health secretary, sajid javid, had also walked. good evening. i'm just going to go and spend some time with my family. thank you for coming. he left his resignation letter to do the talking, writing... no word from the prime minister tonight, but there is still fulsome praise to be found from some. i am fully supportive

of the prime minister. i think that he is the right man for thejob, he has a very significant mandate from the british people, a majority of 80 onlyjust over two and a half years ago. and these sort of things happen in politics, but the best politicians carry on calmly. so how did we get here? let's rewind to this morning and that cabinet meeting. just look at theirfaces. they've just heard what you're about to hear — the former top civil servant at the foreign office saying downing street hadn't been telling the truth. they need to come clean. i think that the language is ambiguous, the sort of telling the truth and crossing your fingers at the same time and hoping that people are not too forensic in their subsequent questioning, and i think that is not working. here's why he was so angry — the handling of the appointment and resignation of this man, chris pincher, who until last week was deputy chief whip, until he stood down after allegations he denies that he groped two men.

since then, there's been a constantly changing story about what the prime minister knew and when. on friday, borisjohnson�*s official spokesman told us the prime minister was not aware of specific allegations about mr pincher before his appointment as the deputy chief whip in february. the spokesman added... by yesterday, downing street had changed their tune, saying... by this morning, lord mcdonald was categoric... at five o'clock this evening — before the cabinet resignations — borisjohnson invited me

in for a hastily arranged interview. do you accept it was a grave error to appoint chris pincher to your government? yes, i think it was a mistake, and i apologise for it. i think, in hindsight, it was the wrong thing to do. i apologise to everybody who's been badly affected by it. your spokesman said you were not aware of a specific allegation. on sunday, a cabinet minister sent out to interview — "i've been informed this morning he" — you — "didn't know about a specific allegation," but you did. you're saying that now. yesterday, another minister, he had been given a categoric assurance you weren't aware of a specific allegation. day after day after day, people speaking on your behalf were talking rubbish. well, i don't know... i was, i'm afraid, focusing on other things at the time, but what i'm telling you now is my recollection of events. and my recollection is that there was one complaint that was raised with me specifically.

there was other rumour and innuendo, but there was one particular thing that was raised and that was... which you'd forgotten about? well, it was a long time ago. mr pincher has denied the allegations against him. tonight, the man who one day wants to move into number 10 himself sees his opponent in peril. this government is collapsing. and the tory cabinet members have been backing boris johnson through this. the tory party is corrupted, and we need notjust a change at the top of the tory party, we need a change of government. what do you say to the person listening to our conversation tonight who simply says, "look, i can't trust "the prime minister any more, he's just telling not the truth"? i'm giving you the absolute truth as far as i can remember about what happened. can people trust you? of course they can.

and i'm telling you... after all this? i'm telling you exactly what happened and i'm coming out to explain it because i'm fed up with people, if i may say so, chris, saying things on my behalf... these are people you employ. ..or trying to say things about what i knew or didn't know, and i'm trying to explain to you exactly what happened as i remember it. truth, integrity, and this man's future as our prime minister, a very uncertain future. chris mason, bbc news, westminster. i'm joined now by the former tory mp and leadership contender rory stewart. you have made it very clear you have little time for borisjohnson as a person. as a character. he won't go, apparently, he is going to cling on. do you think he can survive? i think it is auoin do you think he can survive? i think it is going to _ do you think he can survive? i think it is going to be _ do you think he can survive? i think it is going to be very _ do you think he can survive? i think it is going to be very, _

do you think he can survive? i think it is going to be very, very - it is going to be very, very difficult for him. losing a chancellor is a very serious blow. as you remember, when everybody was talking about the challenge, 75 backbenchers voted against him, but the ministers were with him, and everyone was saying, "the cabinet is going to have to grow a backbone now." and the loss of two senior ministers is very serious indeed. personal integrity has been at the centre of all the questions about the prime minister, but he was seen by so many mps as a winner, even though privately they had their own doubts as well. what does that say about the entire cabinet around him? i think it is very depressing. you are right, i remembervery i think it is very depressing. you are right, i remember very much during the leadership run when boris johnson was first standing, without trying to convince people to vote for almost anybody except him, people would say that he could win, and what i would remind them is that everybody that i knew in the parliament knew that this man was incompetent and dishonest and not

suitable as the prime minister, and the answer kept coming, but he is a winner. and i think it is very, very sad that 70 people decided to vote for him to be prime minister in the first place and so many people were prepared to go along with this cabinet —— so many people. it is sad, it is sad and so many ways, but probably the most fundamental thing is it erodes the reputation of our country and makes it very difficult for us to face some of the mysterious challenges that any british government has faced, and i think the security challenges we face, the economic challenges we face, the economic challenges we face are so extreme that almost unlike anything we've seen since the second world war, and we have somebody in place who is a terrible prime minister, but in a more fun mental sense, prime minister, but in a more fun mentalsense, he prime minister, but in a more fun mental sense, he obviously simply cannot concentrate because the genocides another scandal every week. ., . ~' genocides another scandal every week. ., ., ~ ., ., week. you talk about lack of concentration _ week. you talk about lack of concentration -- _ week. you talk about lack of concentration -- he - week. you talk about lack of l concentration -- he generates

concentration —— he generates another scandal. concentration —— he generates anotherscandal. it concentration —— he generates another scandal. it often is an act, as far as the prime minister is concerned. do you think there are genuine defence points he can make about, for example, the chris pincher affair? this man is dealing with conflicts in ukraine, he's got all the other issues as well. could be his explanations to chris mason todayis be his explanations to chris mason today is possible? i’m be his explanations to chris mason today is possible?— today is possible? i'm afraid part ofthe today is possible? i'm afraid part of the problem _ today is possible? i'm afraid part of the problem for _ today is possible? i'm afraid part of the problem for him _ today is possible? i'm afraid part of the problem for him is - today is possible? i'm afraid part of the problem for him is that. today is possible? i'm afraid part of the problem for him is that i l of the problem for him is that i don't think very many people believe him any more. that was a very good interview that chris mason did that you just played and i suspect that l, you just played and i suspect that i, like most people watching it, grimaced, winced, because we've heard him lie so often and we're so confident that he will say he apologises and it's the wrong thing to do, and then as one of his senior mps as pointed out today, he will go to the tea room and make... but mps as pointed out today, he will go to the tea room and make. . .- to the tea room and make... but as we go back— to the tea room and make... but as we go back to _ to the tea room and make... but as we go back to the _ to the tea room and make... but as we go back to the initial _ to the tea room and make... but as we go back to the initial point, - to the tea room and make... but as we go back to the initial point, he l we go back to the initial point, he is a survivor, politically, he has

been through many scrapes which would have defeated politicians of any other character before, he is known as the grease piglet, isn't he? what could turn things around for him now to keep on, do you think? a, for him now to keep on, do you think? �* , , for him now to keep on, do you think? �* y , , . ., think? a very, very difficult to imagine- _ think? a very, very difficult to imagine- very _ think? a very, very difficult to imagine. very difficult - think? a very, very difficult to imagine. very difficult to - think? a very, very difficult to . imagine. very difficult to imagine because i , remember, every time he has had one of these, he has had a rieja minute of —— a rearrangement of his office. he cannot keep doing that. and it is not likely he is going to be able to generate serious policy. the problem with the british system is that it is increasingly presidential. it is run from the top, and if the person from the top does not have a clear idea of what a economic policy is, does not know what they are going to does not know what they are going to do but the counselling crisis, the system disk is paralysed, and that is one the reasons why nobody has what his policies are —— what they

are going to about the cost—of—living crisis, the system gets paralysed. just cost-of-living crisis, the system gets paralysed-— cost-of-living crisis, the system gets paralysed. just looking at the two ma'or gets paralysed. just looking at the two major resignations _ gets paralysed. just looking at the two major resignations this - gets paralysed. just looking at the l two major resignations this evening, let's start with rishi sunak as well, he seemed to suggest that, in fact, the prime minister and he were at odds about how to deal with the consuls in crisis and it seems like borisjohnson was announcing the abutment of nadhim zahawi as chancellor, one paper reported that some of these taxis will go through now —— the cost—of—living crisis. how much of a philosophical dispute was there and how much of it was personal? i was there and how much of it was ersonal? ~ . , was there and how much of it was ersonal? ~' ., , ., , personal? i think there was a big disagreement, _ personal? i think there was a big disagreement, which _ personal? i think there was a big disagreement, which is - personal? i think there was a big disagreement, which is that - personal? i think there was a big | disagreement, which is that rishi sunak is what we call a fiscally prudent conservative and he speaks for the treasury and he believes, as he says in his letter, that we must be careful about how we handle

the finances, and borisjohnson is a pretty, i'm afraid... that is not how he sees the world. that is not how he sees the world. that is not how he sees the world. that is not how he sees the public finances, so he will borrow and cut and spend, and i think it is very dangerous, so i think there is that, but i think there is something is going on too, which is that it is time to coincide at the moment with a moment of real shame and he relation. rishi sunak is not relating at the moment of the budget, he is not even resigning over the human lesion of the losses —— the humiliation the conservatives faced at the by elections, so this is really a sign that, along with the economic stuff, there is a general sense that our prime minister is not competent and is not serious. w minister is not competent and is not serious. g ., ., minister is not competent and is not serious. ., , serious. sa'id javid, of course, alread serious. sajid javid, of course, already fell — serious. sajid javid, of course, already fell foul _ serious. sajid javid, of course, already fell foul of _ serious. sajid javid, of course, already fell foul of dominic - already fell foul of dominic cummings when he was running number 10, his operations for the prime minister, as well. the fact that

both of these men are bankers, they're both these men, brains, as well, what does that tell you about any vestigial remaining support that the prime minister might have on the back benches and other people he might want to appoint as ministers, should there be further resignations? it should there be further resignations?— should there be further resignations? should there be further resianations? ., ~ , ., resignations? it makes the whole thing seem _ resignations? it makes the whole thing seem pre-rickety. - resignations? it makes the whole thing seem pre-rickety. sajid - resignations? it makes the whole l thing seem pre-rickety. sajid javid thing seem pre—rickety. sajid javid was one of the most dignified members of the cabinet. he left because he had a right with sonic cummings, micromanaging his staff —— he had a fight with dominic cummings. he is someone who is well—liked in the house of commons. i ran against well—liked in the house of commons. iran against him in leadership and iran against him in leadership and i basically have no bad thing to say about him, he is gracious and i think he is an impressive person. he is a real grown—up. he is somet who works, as you say, for 15 years at a very senior level before he came into government, so what it means now is the departure of these people, and sajid javid is a strong

case for this, leave behind pre—rickety group, and the sense is that one of the reasons boris johnson appointed chris pincher is he is struggling to find people who are loyal to him, who don't have personalities, the most straightforward members of parliament, he has got rid of completely or their stay on the —— they are staying on the back benches. ., , they are staying on the back benches-— they are staying on the back benches. ., , ,, ., ., ~ , ., they are staying on the back benches. ., , ,, ., ., ~ ., benches. rory stewart, thank you for “oininu us benches. rory stewart, thank you for joining us on — benches. rory stewart, thank you for joining us on bbc— benches. rory stewart, thank you for joining us on bbc news. _ we can talk to our political correspondent david wallace lockhart in westminster. two in the space of ten minutes — any more since we came on air? spent a lot of time this evening talking about rishi sunak resigning as chancellor and sajid javid resigning as health secretary, because they are sick of it configures in politics, but there been a raft ofjunior

resignations —— significant figures. we have had private secretaries stand down and around the past 20 minutes or so, we've also had alex chalk, the solicitor general for england and wales, stand down, a junior government minister, saying that he was not willing to defend the undependable, indefensible in his origination letter, and he talked about notjust the hiring or the moving of chris pincher into a new government position that we heard about from chris mason in his earlier report, but he also talked about that partygate saga that happened or came to a had a matter of months ago with borisjohnson getting fined for his events held in downing street at a time when he country was under covid restrictions —— defend the indefensible in his resignation letter. on paper tonight, nothing really has changed for borisjohnson. he has lost some

government ministers, he has replaced them with new figures, and he will try and move on governing. it is obvious he has no intention to go as long as he has people willing to serve in his cabinet, he is willing to serve as prime minister, but there is talk amongst the conservative party about another vote of confidence in borisjohnson as party leader, something that he survived last month. the rules as they currently stand mean he is immune from another vote for a year, but there are elections to the 1922 committee, the backbench committee of conservative and peas, that represents them, there are elections for them coming up next week and there's a lot of talk amongst conservative mps of running slates of candidates who want to change the rules so that he could face another vote. so while he is he has reshuffled his cabinet, he wants to keep on going, there is no question borisjohnson's future ——

borisjohnson's david, thank you. today's events are the culmination of months of chaos in borisjohnson's government and a barrage of questions about standards of trust and integrity in 10 downing street. the prime minister's handling of the partygate scandal and the criticism of his leadership in an official report has caused deep unease among conservative mps and a corresponding drop in mrjohnson's ratings as prime minister. last month, more than 140 conservative mps declared a lack of confidence in mrjohnson's leadership. our deputy political editor vicki young reports on the crisis so far and what's likely to happen next. hi, sorry. how are you? he was the toast of the conservative party, winning a clear election victory that should have made governing easy. but tonight, borisjohnson's team is falling apart and many colleagues say he only has himself to blame. of course, he hasn't been helped by unexpected events.

a pandemic meant very difficult decisions that no leader would expect to make. but a successful vaccine programme did give mrjohnson plenty to boast about. but soon, the lawbreaking parties in downing street, including a fine for the prime minister, appalled many voters, and accusations that he lied about what he knew has been the last straw for dozens of tory mps. there will be very difficult decisions to be taken about tax and so on, and if you can't trust the motivation behind those decisions, because you feel that they're being taken in order to shore up this mp�*s support or that mp�*s support, i just don't think that is a sustainable way of running a government. any other leader would have resigned by now. but despite the growing opposition on his own side, mrjohnson hasn't resigned. the vote in favour of having confidence in borisjohnson as leader was 211 votes and the vote against was 148 votes.

in fact, he called that a new mandate from his mps. there are signs, though, that previous conservative voters don't quite see it like that. this is what the people of tiverton and honiton have said. huge by—election defeats at the hands of the liberal democrats have made tory mps nervous. thank you very much. mrjohnson even lost his adviser on ethics and standards. a few months ago, mrjohnson promised that a new team in number 10 would sort things out, but then came a chaotic response to allegations about chris pincher — ministers sent out to deliver lines that kept changing. those who know mrjohnson say his leadership style has caused many of the problems. his own peculiar, distinctive unusual way of doing business, which is to proceed by impulse and intuition. and if you're in there and you're an adviser or a minister, you're with a guy who says he's

given you a decision but then may well change his mind. have you been honest, prime minister? - some colleagues don't think mrjohnson will ever resign, but no—one's ruling out another scandal if he stays. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. joining me now isjohn ferguson, the political editor of the sunday mail newspaper. borisjohnson, his boris johnson, his unpopularity, borisjohnson, his unpopularity, his popular t—levels in scotland at an all—time low — how long do you think he could survive —— popularity levels. he could survive -- popularity levels. ~ ., ., ., levels. what do other s&p politicians _ levels. what do other s&p politicians think _ levels. what do other s&p politicians think of - levels. what do other s&p politicians think of their i politicians think of their chances... _ politicians think of their chances... there - politicians think of their chances... there is - politicians think of their chances... there is no | politicians think of their - chances... there is no doubt that the snp will see borisjohnson's failings as a huge gain for them. nicola sturgeon has already said that she hopes the rest of his parliament follow suit and resign as

well. whether borisjohnson resigns, seems he has no intention to do that, he wants to stay put. we can see the speed with which he has replaced his chancellor and health secretary that he believes that he can soldier on, that that seems increasingly unlikely, but certainly at the moment he wants to go on, and i think in scotland, the snp, there feeling the longer boris stays in power, the greater the chance our people in scotland will eventually see independence as a way out of a country run by him. that see independence as a way out of a country run by him.— country run by him. that was my oint country run by him. that was my point behind _ country run by him. that was my point behind the _ country run by him. that was my point behind the question, - country run by him. that was my i point behind the question, because of course the legal route now that the snp is looking for is to actually make the next general election really is single issue matter, on independence, so presumably, they would keep him in

position for a bit longer to try and build that support?— build that support? yeah, i think that's absolutely _ build that support? yeah, i think that's absolutely right, - build that support? yeah, i think that's absolutely right, that - build that support? yeah, i think. that's absolutely right, that nicola sturgeon made clear that boris johnson refuses to grant that section 30 order that would allow her to have a legal referendum, the route she would like to take would be to turn the next general election into a defect so referendum on independence —— into a de facto. there is nobody she would prefer to be making that case against more than borisjohnson, so, yeah, i think you're absolutely right that the longer... if you can make it to the longer... if you can make it to the next election, the snp would be delighted to run that fact though independence referendum against him. what does this mean for politics more widely, do you think —— this

de facto... in terms of how to do deals or make deals, what is more egregious about this particular government in scottish eyes? yeah, i think, chris — government in scottish eyes? yeah, i think, chris pincher, _ government in scottish eyes? yeah, i think, chris pincher, it _ government in scottish eyes? yeah, i think, chris pincher, it was _ think, chris pincher, it was interesting, in that it was known in politics and in the media that there was question marks over chris pincher�*s character, he had resigned already. everybody knew there was issues with chris pincher when he was made a whip and nothing happened then. i think the real issue is borisjohnson's inability to tell a boris johnson's inability to tell a straight story and, borisjohnson's inability to tell a straight story and, yeah, i think that, with every passing day, it appears he is again failing to be straight with the electorate. that

is damaging. qm. straight with the electorate. that is damaging-— straight with the electorate. that is damaging. straight with the electorate. that is damauain. ., is damaging. 0k, john ferguson, i am ve sor , is damaging. 0k, john ferguson, i am very sorry. political — is damaging. 0k, john ferguson, i am very sorry, political editor _ is damaging. 0k, john ferguson, i am very sorry, political editor of - is damaging. 0k, john ferguson, i am very sorry, political editor of the - very sorry, political editor of the sunday mail newspaper, we are going to stop you there because we are out of time. thank you for watching bbc news. hello. we have some warmer weather to come for the uk in the days ahead, notably warmer for england and wales. it was a pretty chilly start to tuesday. it's going to be a much milder start to wednesday. we start as we mean to go on. we've sourced our air around an area of high pressure all the way from close to the azores. so through the night, we're actually going to be pulling in mild air all the while on a northwesterly breeze behind a warm weather front. and that weather front will bring some quite heavy rain for a time for scotland and then some quite persistent but lighter rain sets in across western scotland for the day on wednesday, perhaps just fringing into northernmost england as well. northern ireland hopefully

brightening up as the day goes on. best of the sunshine will be across england and wales, but 20 degrees in aberdeen is up on the highs that we saw earlier in the week, and i think we'll see 2a, maybe 25 in the southeast of england. very high levels of pollen still across some parts of england and wales, with the cloud and rain at much lower levels for northern and western scotland. it looks like we'll continue with uninterrupted play for wednesday at wimbledon. here, again, temperatures up a little on those earlier in the week. thursday looks like it will offer up another fine day as well. lighter winds on thursday. it's going to be pretty windy wednesday across scotland. we'll have a little bit of a northerly breeze down the east coast. that takes the temperature down for norwich on thursday, but notice there, 25 in cardiff, 26 in london, that warmth building in the sunshine across england and wales. scotland and northern ireland always losing out to those higher temperatures thanks to thicker cloud. could be quite grey and gloomy around some of the coasts and across the hills. some rain for western scotland on friday. but still we're seeing some of that warmth just pushing up towards belfast, edinburgh and aberdeen, but the really high temperatures,

the significantly above average temperatures, always likely to be further south across england and wales, even on into the weekend. we will see fronts continuing to push towards scotland and northern ireland, so the cloudier skies here, the slightly breezier weather story, some patchy rain, possibly, across western scotland, but temperatures still not too far off the market, actually, for this time of year. the average is the low 20s. butjust take a look how they soar in response to the sunshine, the light winds across england and wales. i think on sunday, we could see somewhere in eastern england nudging close to 30 degrees.

this is bbc news, the headlines. borisjohnson is fighting to survive as prime minister after two senior members of the british cabinet, the chancelor rishi sunak and the health secretary sajid javid resigned over controversies linked to mrjohnson. borisjohnson is accused of making several misleading statements, most recently about the case of the mp chris pincher. the former minister is accused of sexual misconduct, after he drunkenly groped men at a private club. the prime minister has appointed nadhim zahawi as new chancellor. mr zahawi is the former education secretary, loyal to borisjohnson. mrjohnson's chief of staff, steve barclay, becomes health secretary. the leader of the opposition labour party, keir starmer,

has said the government was now collapsing amid sleaze,