Duncan Smith has warned the prime minister not to try to seize power if police find a violation

He is pressed by another older Tory Boris Johnson resign if Metropolitan Police to conclude that he had violated the regulations of Covid.

sir Iain Duncan Smith he told the newspaper i that it would be “very difficult” for the prime minister to keep his seat if force punished him.

The former Tory leader added: “I think it would be very difficult for anyone to stay after that. If you made the laws and broke them and the police decide you broke them … and then there’s the unedited report (Sue Gray) – the two things will come together. “

The Tory MP’s comments were echoed by the chairman of the Tory Justice Committee, Sir Bob Neill.

He told Radio Times: “Regulations create an offense for which you receive a certain penalty, (but) I think it will be very difficult for someone to be in the position of the main legislator in the country and then violate the law, which they enforced and especially preached to other people. , let them stick. You can’t have double standards. “

Sir Iain and Sir Bob’s remarks come after reports surfaced earlier this week that Mr Johnson’s allies said he would not want to resign if a police investigation found he had broken the law.

Elsewhere, other conservatives were less in favor. On Thursday, former Tory Prime Minister Sir John Major launched a furious attack on Mr Johnson, accusing him of violating lock-in laws and using ‘bold excuses’.

In a speech at the Institute for government Sir John seems to have suggested that Tory MPs withdraw their support for the Prime Minister, adding: “On the 10th, the Prime Minister and officials violated the closure laws. Bold excuses were made up.

“Day after day, the public was asked to believe in the incredible. Ministers were sent to defend the indefensible – to look gullible or stupid.

“Together, the government has looked markedly ignorant, with consequences that go beyond political unpopularity.”

The former prime minister continued: “The lack of trust in the elected part of our democracy cannot be ruled out. Parliament has a duty to rectify this.

“If that doesn’t happen and trust is lost at home, our policy is broken.”

Last month, his colleague, former Prime Minister Theresa May, led a very public attack on Mr Johnson in Parliament.

Her speech, delivered hours after the publication of Gray’s heavily censored report, said Mr Johnson and his staff do not think Covid’s rules apply to them.

Ms May added: “Gray’s report shows that 10 Downing Street did not comply with the regulations imposed on members of the public, so either my true esteemed friend did not read the rules or did not understand what they meant. and others around him, or they didn’t think the rules applied to number 10. What was that? “

After delivering a legal questionnaire from Met to Downing Street on Friday, Mr Johnson reiterated that he denied the violation.

The prime minister is expected to be at up to six of the 12 events being investigated as part of Operation Hillman.

Downing Street did not say whether the letter questioned the prime minister about one or more events.

The prime minister is expected to be at up to six of the 12 events being investigated as part of Operation Hillman.

Tobias Ellwood, one of the Conservative MPs who wrote the letter, told BBC Newsnight: “We have to solve this. The people are looking at it. A lot of trust needs to be regained. We have to move on, it’s a mess. “