An unnamed No. 10 insider has briefed Nick Watt of the Guardian:

“Nadine Dorries has made clear that she does not think the prime minister should be murdered. But she is well known for having unusual views and unusual ways of expressing them. There will no change to the security arrangements for the prime minister. We were never genuinely concerned about a threat to the prime minister’s life.”

Unlikely to be a sense of humour failure, Downing Street staffers are clearly wittier than previously thought. Either way the original story that Guido ran this afternoon made it clear that the comment was made metaphorically. Given that Nadine is not the only Tory MP thinking these political thoughts, conference could well be a metaphorical bloodbath for the PM.

UPDATE:

Comments that I'm 'back tracking' by saying I meant metaphorically are hysterical!! Delighted to hear No10 have not increased security 🙂

— Nadine Dorries (@NadineDorriesMP) September 11, 2012