Sunak news – live: Starmer says PM being bullied by party as senior Tories slam Simon Clarke’s ‘foolish’ coup

Sir Simon Clarke MP went from watching his beloved football team Middlesborough get thrashed by Chelsea last night to being rounded upon by his fellow Conservative MPs today, according to ITV.

The Lib Dems have mocked Lee Anderson after the senior Tory said he would be willing to accept the job of Conservative deputy chairman again after quitting last week, reports Political Correspondent Adam Forrest.

“It seems Lee Anderson must have invested in a pair of flip flops recently,” said Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokesperson, Alistair Carmichael.

“First cowering from Labour jeers in the voting lobbies and now begging for his old job back,” he added. “For someone who wants to be seen as a conviction politician, these past weeks Anderson has shown very little.”

Simon Clarke’s stark warning that the Conservatives will be “massacred” if Rishi Sunak leads them into the general election is the latest instalment of a plot to oust the prime minister.

The former levelling up secretary and Liz Truss fan’s attack on Sunak’s “uninspiring leadership” is more worrying for the PM than previous demands for yet another change of leader – by the maverick right-wing MP Andrea Jenkyns and David Frost, the Tory peer and former Brexit secretary. Clarke has more credibility than them. Nadine Dorries, the Boris Johnson cheerleader who wrote a book, The Plot, about his “assassination,” greeted news of his manoeuvre with: “And, we’re off.”

Frost is the frontman for the Conservative Britain Alliance of anonymous Tory donors, who have commissioned an opinion poll clearly designed to destabilise the PM.

Read more here:

Sir Simon Clarke has responded to all the flak he’s been getting – describing himself to a disliked man shouting “iceberg” as he appeared to compare the Tories to the Titanic, reports Political Correspondent Adam Forrest.

“I totally respect the strong views that something like this evokes,” he told BBC News. “No one likes that guy that’s shouting ‘iceberg’, but I suspect that people will be even less happy if we hit the iceberg.

“And we are on course to do that. That is the point that I need to land with colleagues respectfully and calmly … I really worry that we’re on course for a shattering course.”

Sir Simon Clarke has insisted he acted alone in calling for Rishi Sunak to be replaced and is not part of an orchestrated plot.

The former Cabinet minister repeatedly declined to say who he wants to become Tory leader, but said there are a “number of people who could do it”.

He told BBC News: “I don’t want to tarnish anyone by saying this. I’ve done this on my own, I’ve been really clear that I’ve done it deliberately on my own so I don’t make anyone else the subject of the sort of criticism that I’ve incurred.”

Sir Simon said he had been on the receiving end of some “pretty hostile comments” and insisted his attack on the Prime Minister was not about his own leadership ambitions.

“This is absolutely not about Simon Clarke,” he said.

Senior Conservative Lee Anderson has said he regrets not backing Rishi Sunak over the Rwanda bill and would take back his old job back if asked.

The controversial right-winger – who quit as deputy Tory chairman last week over the bill – said he would be willing to return if wanted by the PM.

And No 10 even hinted that Mr Sunak is open to bringing back Mr Anderson in the senior party role – despite all the turmoil of the past week.

Political Correspondent Adam Forrest reports:

Sir Keir Starmer took a dig at Rishi Sunak and Conservative Party infighting at the beginning of Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, 24 January.

“I love this quaint tradition where the more they slag him off behind his back, the louder they cheer in here,” the Leader of the Opposition said, after the Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle urged Tory backbenchers to calm down.

The Labour leader made the remark in response to jeers from Tory MPs, after he mocked the Prime Minister laughing when a voter pleaded with him to fix the NHS waiting lists on Monday.

It comes after former cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke called for Mr Sunak to be ousted in an article for The Telegraph on Tuesday.

Rhys Jones reports:

Colonel Tim Collins, who shot to fame for a rousing speech he gave his battalion on the eve of the Iraq war, is to run to become an MP this year, reports Politics and Whitehall Editor Kate Devlin.

Col Collins is to stand in North Down in his native Northern Ireland.

Last year he backed The Independent’s successful campaign to stop the deportation of an Afghan war hero, saying the UK owes a “duty of loyalty to our allies”.

He will stand for the Ulster Unionist Party in a seat currently held by Stephen Farry, who represents the Alliance Party.

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie, who served alongside Col Collins in Iraq, told the Belfast Telegraph he was "very confident" the 63-year-old can win the seat.

Senior Tories have rallied round Rishi Sunak and warned against “foolish” infighting after former Cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke called for a change in leader.

Sir Simon warned that the Conservatives will be “massacred” at the general election unless the Prime Minister is replaced.

But Home Secretary James Cleverly and a string of current and former ministers slapped him down.

David Hughes reports: