Boris Johnson will skip a Commons sleaze debate amid a deepening row over botched attempts to change the rules to save a Tory MP from sanction.
Downing Street confirmed the PM would be on a visit to a hospital in Northumberland, as part of a "long-standing plan for him to go up there and see the importance of NHS staff getting their boosters".
Mr Johnson is sending Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Steve Barclay to face furious MPs instead.
It comes as International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said she did not think the Prime Minister needed to be at the emergency debate into standards on Monday afternoon - as he can watch it on TV.
Ministers have tried to dismiss the row as a "storm in a teacup" after the Tories attempted to block a 30-day suspension for MP Owen Paterson over an "egregious" breach of lobbying rules.
Mr Paterson resigned as an MP last week after Mr Johnson withdrew his support for the plan following a furious outcry.
The Liberal Democrats, who secured the emergency debate, have called for a statutory public inquiry into sleaze and corruption allegations.
Mr Johnson is on a visit to a hospital in the North East today and will apparently not be able to make it back to the Commons in time.
However he managed to fly back from the COP26 summit in Glasgow to go to a private dinner attended by Tory peer and self-confessed climate change sceptic Charles Moore.
The Prime Minister's spokesman defended the move, saying: "We think the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, whose department is the lead on this area, is the right person to lead (the debate)."
Earlier, Ms Trevelyan told Sky News: "My opinion would be that no, he shouldn't be there, he will no doubt - as we all do - have the House of Commons on in his office as he's dealing with many, many other issues that only a Prime Minister that can deal with.
"He will get a briefing of the key issues raised by colleagues from across the House later on, I believe that the Leader and other ministers will be well placed to take the despatch box this afternoon."
In a round of interviews, she suggested Mr Johnson would likely have the debate on in "the corner of whichever room he is in".
Told it would be an indication of how seriously he takes the sleaze row if he turns up, Ms Trevelyan told the BBC : "I'm not sure that's necessarily a reflection of how the PM takes things seriously which he does.
"He also has a very important, unique job which only he can do."
Ms Trevelyan claimed there was no "wider problem" with corruption in politics as she tried to defend the Government after a torrid week.
She said: "The standards system that we have looks into individual situations where they come up, and those have been dealt with, and, indeed, the debate this afternoon will continue again.
"I don't consider that there's a need for an inquiry in something. Why? Because I don't think there is a wider problem here."
Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain said failing to show up for the debate would be a "shocking abdication of leadership".
She said: "A fish rots from the head down, and it’s the same with Boris Johnson’s corrupt and sleazy government. If Johnson fails to appear at the emergency debate on sleaze today it'll be a shocking abdication of leadership.
“From the redecoration of his flat to holidays reportedly paid for by Tory party donors, the prime minister has serious questions to answer about his own integrity and allegations he has breached parliamentary standards.
“We have to ask why the Prime Minister seemed so intent on undermining the independent standards commissioner and tearing up anti-sleaze rules. It looks very much like Boris Johnson was trying to use Owen Paterson’s case to get himself off the hook, which would be a new low even by his standards.”
