BORIS Johnson has insisted he can “draw a line” under his leadership crisis, despite rebel Tory MPs continuing to call for him to quit.

The Prime Minister told his cabinet this morning that the government was now able to “focus exclusively” on policy matters and take the country forward.

He promised unspecified tax cuts to help households with the cost of living crisis and to boost the economy, saying trusting people with thor own money was “a fundamental conservtive instinct.”

However Mr Johnson’s rejection by 41 per cent of his MPs in Monday night’s confidence vote means there is little chance of moving on. 

The former Tory leader Lord Hague said the level of opposition to the Prime Minister was “devastating” and urged him to resign.

“The damage done to his premiership is severe,” he wrote in an article in the Times.

The Tory MP Andrew Bridgen drew attention to the piece on Twitter, adding: “Lord Hague is right. The Prime Minister should now leave with honour and residual affection for what he has achieved.”

Tory MP Tobias Ellwood said he accepted the result of the vote “for the moment” and predicted Mr Johnson only had “a matter of months” left in Downing Street.

The chairman of the Commons Defence Committee told Sky News: “This is far from a conclusive result - it’s not a defeat but it’s not a win. So for the moment I accept the democratic outcome and I encourage all colleagues to do the same.”

Former Tory minister  Philip Dunne and current chair of the Environmental Audit Committee said he voted against Mr Johnson and the PM still faced some “very choppy waters”.

He said: “I took the view that it would be better to provide the opportunity for integrity, for a new vision for the party and a new degree of competence at the heart of government.

“It’s not going to happen for now, but we’ll have to see what happens in the coming weeks and months. This is not over.”

Sir Roger Gale, an outspoken critic of Mr Johnson, told Sky News: “I don’t believe that he should take the party into the next general election. 

“There are a lot of hurdles ahead and I think a Prime Minister of honour would look at the figures, accept the fact that he has lost the support of a significant proportion of his party and consider his position, but I don’t think he’ll do that.”

Addressing his cabinet in the room where he incurred a fine for breaking lockdown rules, Mr Johnson thanked them for their support and “good work yesterday”.

He said it had been “a very important day because we’re able now to draw a line under the issues that our opponents want to talk about, and we’re able to get on with talking about what I think the people in this country want us to talk about, which is what we are doing to help them and to take the country forward.

“And that is what we’re going to do. We’re focusing exclusively on that. And we are helping people, of course, with number one, with dealing with the aftershocks of Covid.

“Huge sums that we’re putting in to help cushion the inflationary impact, the rising energy prices. I think it is a total of £37 billion we’ve already put in, £1,200 for eight million of the most vulnerable households in the country.”

In an attempt to address criticism of his economic policies, Mr Johnson talked up the prospect of tax rises and asked for ways to make government more efficient. 

He said “delivering tax cuts” would help deliver “considerable growth in employment and economic progress”.

He also asked ministers to “make sure that you’re thinking the whole time about cutting the costs of government, about cutting the costs that business has to face and of course cutting the costs that everybody else faces, families up and down the country”.

Reforms to regulations could help cut costs in energy, transport or housing, he said, adding: “There is ample scope for us to get out of people’s way and to do things better”.

He went on: “Over the course of the next few weeks, I’m going to ask everybody to come forward with ways in which we cut costs, drive reform, and make sure that we understand that in the end it is people who have the best feel for how to spend their own money rather than the government or the state. And that is our fundamental, Conservative instinct.”

Downing Street officials later insisted there were “no plans currently” for a reshuffle following the confidence vote, and that Mr Johnson “has a mandate to continue and focus on the issues that matter to the public and that’s what you saw this morning”.

Asked if Mr Johnson was investigating if any ministers voted against him, the spokesman said “not that I’m aware of”, adding the vote was “an anonymous process by design”.

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab claimed Mr Johnson was not disheartened after the vote but had “renewed energy” to deliver policies as Prime Minister.

He told Sky News: “We’ve got two years to deliver and demonstrate that we’re delivering.

“I think we’re the ones with a plan, I think this Prime Minister is full of vision, determination and if anything, renewed energy to get off the Westminster insider track, on to the outward-facing agenda of delivering for the people.”