Theresa May's sacking of ally Damian Green 'shows she can lead the country', says Jeremy Hunt

'What is emerging is someone of the most extraordinary resilience in very challenging circumstances'

Theresa May’s ruthless sacking of her close ally Damian Green will convince people she he is the right person “to lead the country”, a Cabinet colleague claims.

Jeremy Hunt said the dismissal – announced late last night, in an exchange of letters – was further evidence of the Prime Minister’s ability to take “very difficult decisions”.

The Health Secretary claimed it was part of a recent pattern which had seen Mrs May bounce back from “incredible pressures” to success in the Brexit talks and at Westminster.

“I think what is emerging is someone of the most extraordinary resilience in very challenging circumstances, who is capable of taking very difficult decisions about close colleagues like Damian Green – even with all these other things going on,” Mr Hunt said.

“And I think that is what will reassure people that, in these very challenging national circumstances that we are in, that we do actually have someone who has that ability to lead the country.”

Mr Hunt’s comments will be seen as an attempt to turn the damaging loss of her de-facto deputy to Mrs May’s advantage – by hailing it as evidence of her doing the right thing, whatever the personal cost.

He admitted that Mr Green had been sacked because he had “lied”, dropping the pretence that he had been “asked to resign” after what were called “misleading” statements”.

However, the Health Secretary said the police still had questions to answer, over the 2008 raid on Mr Green's Commons office, when pornographic images were found on his computer.

In his resignation letter, from his post as First Secretary of State, he continued to deny “unfounded and deeply hurtful” claims that he downloaded or viewed the material.

But a Cabinet Office investigation found two statements by Mr Green, which suggested he did not know indecent material had been discovered, were “inaccurate” and breached the ministerial code.

The sacking means Mrs May has lost three Cabinet ministers in under two months, after Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, and International Development secretary Priti Patel were forced out.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Hunt said it was clear Mr Green had “lied” and it was right that Cabinet ministers were held to the “very highest standards of conduct”.

He argued that “a lot of people who understand the context would appreciate why that might have happened”, but added: “That doesn’t make it any more acceptable.”

“On this occasion, very, very sadly and I know with a very heavy heart, the Prime Minister took the decision that she had to. I am sure that she didn't want him to go.”

Jess Phillips, the Labour MP most critical of Mr Green’s conduct, welcomed his sacking, but criticised the inquiry for taking “longer than it needed to”.

And she warned its conclusions might allow Mr Green to escape investigation by the new body Parliament is setting up following the sexual harassment scandal.

“The fact that he left for lying, essentially, about pornography on his computer does seem to be the slight get-out to stop potentially the new independent system in parliament that is going to be set up looking into this further,” Ms Phillips told Sky News.

“It does seem they are trying to protect him from any future claims of sexual harassment.”

Meanwhile, a source close to Brexit Secretary David Davis said he would not be quitting in protest at Mr Green's sacking - despite previous suggestions that he would.

Mr Davis was Mr Green's boss as Shadow Home Secretary at the time of the 2008 police raid on his Commons office.