Boris Johnson’s government was in danger of imploding on Saturday night as the work and pensions secretary, Amber Rudd, quit the cabinet and resigned the Conservative whip, saying she could not stand by while “loyal, moderate MPs” were purged from the party.

Rudd told Johnson she had joined his cabinet “in good faith accepting that no deal had to be on the table”. She added: “However, I no longer believe leaving with a deal is the government’s main objective.”

While she could see the government was “expending a lot of energy” preparing for no deal, she had not seen “the same level of intensity go into our talks with the European Union” and updates from his office had “not, regretfully, provided me with the reas

Boris Johnson’s government was in danger of imploding on Saturday night as the work and pensions secretary, Amber Rudd, quit the cabinet and resigned the Conservative whip, saying she could not stand by while “loyal, moderate MPs” were purged from the party.

In a devastating resignation letter, she accused the prime minister of “an assault on decency and democracy” and “an act of political vandalism” for sacking 21 of her Tory colleagues for backing a parliamentary bill to stop a no-deal Brexit.

Rudd told Johnson she had joined his cabinet “in good faith accepting that no deal had to be on the table”. She added: “However, I no longer believe leaving with a deal is the government’s main objective.”

While she could see the government was “expending a lot of energy” preparing for no deal, she had not seen “the same level of intensity go into our talks with the European Union” and updates from his office had “not, regretfully, provided me with the reassurances I sought”.

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Referring to Johnson’s decision to withdraw the whip from rebel MPs, she said: “This short-sighted culling of my colleagues has stripped the party of broad-minded and dedicated Conservative MPs. I cannot support this act of political vandalism.”

Rudd’s decision follows the resignation from the cabinet of Johnson’s own brother, Jo Johnson, on Thursday and will place intense pressure on other cabinet members who are also against a no-deal Brexit, including Nicky Morgan, to follow suit.

Labour’s party chairman, Ian Lavery, said: “The prime minister has run out of authority in record time and his Brexit plan has been exposed as a sham. No one trusts Boris Johnson. Not his cabinet, not his MPs, not even his own brother.”

David Gauke, the pro-remain ­former secretary of state for justice and lord chancellor, tweeted of Rudd’s resignation: “I’m sure this has not been an easy decision. But it is brave and principled and is all about putting the national interest first.”

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