Theresa May has full confidence in Boris Johnson, Number 10 has said, just hours after a leaked recording emerged of the foreign secretary taking aim at her Brexit strategy and warning of a "meltdown" in EU talks.
In some of his most critical comments yet, Mr Johnson claimed pro-EU forces within the Treasury were trying to keep Britain "locked in orbit around the EU" and laid bare cabinet divisions when he described Philip Hammond's department as the "heart of Remain".
He also directly challenged the prime minister's authority on the crucial issue of the Irish border, saying it was "beyond belief" that the government was allowing the "tail to wag the dog in this way".
Ms May's latest climbdown comes less than 24 hours after she was forced give way to David Davis over customs plans, preventing the Brexit secretary from resigning during a dramatic day of talks.
Labour and the SNP have called for Mr Johnson's dismissal after the recording, leaked to Buzzfeed, revealed he had disclosed Ms May's G7 announcement on tackling online gender violence and discussed highly sensitive diplomatic relations with China and Russia during a private dinner with Conservative supporters.
The prime minister's official spokeswoman told a Westminster briefing that she has full confidence in Boris Johnson and refused to be drawn on leaked comments.
She said: “I would just say the PM believes that her cabinet and her government are working hard to deliver on the will of the people and working hard to take back control of our money, laws and our borders.”
Asked if Ms May continued to have confidence in the foreign secretary, she replied: "Of course."
Pressed on whether the cabinet was united, the PM's spokeswoman said: "The PM works with and listens to all of her colleagues and of course on issues of huge importance to the country there is rigorous debate, and you would expect that but what's important is she is focused on delivering what people voted for last year."
Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said a prime minister with "any semblance of authority" would have sacked Mr Johnson for comments like this.
She told the BBC: "I just don’t think Boris Johnson is somebody who should be in one of the high offices of state.
"I don’t think the way he conducts himself, I don’t think the opportunistic way he puts his own interests constantly ahead of what is obviously in the best interests of the country, is behaviour befitting of somebody holding that office."
Labour's shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry also repeated calls for his dismissal and questioned what it would take for the prime minister to say "enough is enough".
She said: "If the truth is that she [the prime minister] cannot sack him, how about the foreign secretary himself shows a bit of personal responsibility and admits that a job like this, where your words hold gravity and your actions have consequences, is simply not for him?"
Senior Tory MP Sarah Wollaston posted on Twitter: "Boris ‘leak’ a bit like him using the Tory WhatsApp group as a kind of deniable press briefing. Dressing up publicly broadcast insults under the cover of a ‘private’ discussions won’t wash.
"Wonder too what our US allies think of the confidentiality of their own discussions with Boris about the situation in North Korea if that’s going to be passed on for after dinner entertainment?"
However former Tory leader Lord Howard backed Mr Johnson by saying the row was part of the "spills and thrills" of EU withdrawal negotiations.
It comes only a day after under-pressure prime minister had to give way to Brexiteers by making last-minute amendments to her "backstop" plan, which would keep the UK in parts of the customs union until a permanent solution was found to the Irish border row.
After Mr Davis insisted that the backstop must be time-limited, the government pledged it would not extend beyond December 2021, as critics say that would keep Britain too closely tied to Brussels.
