Tory minister filmed admitting Boris Johnson’s move to suspend parliament motivated by Brexit

Ben Wallace admits he does not know what the outcome of the PM’s EU withdrawal strategy will be

Defence secretary Ben Wallace has been caught on camera suggesting that Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament was driven by the demands of his Brexit plans.

Mr Wallace appeared to admit that the government faced difficulties in maintaining control in a finely balanced House of Commons, conceding that he did not know what the outcome of Mr Johnson’s dramatic gambit will be.

The prime minister insisted on Wednesday that it was “completely untrue” that Brexit was behind the use of a mechanism known as “prorogation” to shut the doors of Westminster on MPs for five weeks in the run-up to the 31 October deadline for EU withdrawal.

But speaking to his French counterpart Florence Parly, Mr Wallace discussed the move in terms of the need to reach a conclusion to the three-year Brexit process.

“Parliament has been very good at saying what it doesn’t want. It has been awful at saying what it wants,” he said.

“That’s the reality. So eventually any leader has to, you know, try.”

“I don’t know what the outcome will be,” he said, before adding with a laugh: “Politics.”

“Our system is a winner-takes-all system,” he continued. “If you win a parliamentary majority you control everything, you control the timetable. There’s no written separation, so… you pretty much are in command of the whole thing.

“And we’ve suddenly found ourselves with no majority and a coalition and that’s not easy for our system.”

Mr Wallace was speaking at an informal summit of defence ministers in Helsinki, Finland.

Asked by reporters on his way into the meeting whether he backed the prorogation of parliament, he replied simply: “Happens every year.”

His later comments were picked up by cameras filming ministers chatting inside the meeting hall before the formal start of a roundtable discussion.

Naomi Smith, chief executive of Best for Britain, said: “Of course the prime minister’s decision to suspend parliament and our democracy was motivated by Brexit.

“Make no mistake about it: this is a political decision. That’s what’s so disturbing about involving the Queen.

Wallace admitted the weakness of the government’s control over events in parliament (EPA)

“This deeply undemocratic decision must be resisted. MPs must work together to fight this coup.”

But a Downing Street source said: “The defence secretary misspoke and was not involved in discussions about the Queen’s Speech.

“The Queen’s Speech will allow us to set out an ambitious legislative programme to deliver on our domestic priorities, such as tackling violent crime, investing in our health service and tackling the cost of living.”