Serious. Tory MP William Wragg accuses govt whips and No 10 of blackmail and breaking ministerial code. Says they’ve threatened to withdraw investment from MPs’ constituencies if they support no confidence. Also threatened with negative press stories.

NEW: No 10 responds to Mr Wragg’s allegations- “We are not aware of any evidence to support what are clearly serious allegations. If there is any evidence to support these claims we would look at it very carefully.”

Stand by for: 1. This did not happen. 2. It did happen, but the Prime Minister knew nothing about it. 3. The Prime Minister knew about it, but it wasn’t technically blackmail. 4. It was blackmail, but the Prime Minister wasn’t told that blackmail was against the law.

@BarristerSecret I wish it was surprising but it's really not with this government.

@BarristerSecret For the love of God, this shit show has to end!

@BarristerSecret Not that I expect anything this government does to make sense, surely holding back funding to Tory MP’s will impact the whole of the Tory party?…

@BarristerSecret Waiting to tick them off the list! Any estimates on how long it'll take to begin & how long to progress to the next stage?

@BarristerSecret It did not happen, but if it did, it was only in a specific and limited way.

Boris Johnson says he's "seen no evidence" of blackmail in his party after claims from one of his own MPs bbc.in/3FErP8Y

@BarristerSecret We have known of these tactics since at least 2019

@BarristerSecret Absolutely brilliant and unfortunately very accurate