As the Telegraph and FT report this morning, Jacob Rees-Mogg is now leading Cabinet opposition to the upcoming national insurance hike. Grant Shapps yet again found himself in damage control mode this morning, trying to assure viewers – read ‘disappoint them’ – that the government is united over the plans and they won’t be changing:

“We have a collective position, which is that we think it’s absolutely right that we… clear up the backlog [and] make sure that we deal with the long-term problem of social care…we’re fixing that, and we’re doing it through a rise in national insurance, and we think we’re making an important historical point here by righting that wrong.”

Meanwhile sources close to Mr Rees-Mogg are insisting loyalty from him to the PM…