Did somebody call for a Doctor? Liam Fox has slapped down the PM over any plan to enforce collective responsibility during the referendum. Speaking at the IEA, Fox told Guido that ministers must be allowed to campaign “without restrictions” and that attempts to “restrict the debate” will be “unsuccessful” and “unwise“.

“Enormous pressures will be unleashed when the referendum begins and I think that many of those who were never in government or in parliament during the Maastricht debate don’t quite understand the passions that will emerge. We will have to continue to govern this country after the European referendum. How easy or how difficult that is will largely be dependent on how well we treat one another in the run up to that referendum and during that referendum. Any elements that introduce bad feeling or concepts of bad faith into that process will make the latter period much more difficult. So perhaps we should be thinking just a little more strategically on that point.”

Threatening the likes of Grayling, Gove, Villiers and Whitto with the sack probably comes under “bad feeling and bad faith”…