Speaker John Bercow has vowed to block Boris Johnson from suspending parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit “with every breath in my body”.

Mr Johnson also faced other attacks from more liberal Conservatives on Wednesday.

In a thinly-veiled attack on the Johnson’s adviser Dominic Cummings, former chancellor Philip Hammond accused the PM of listening to “unelected” saboteurs “who pull the strings” of his government.

Despite the internal party schism, Mr Johnson held his very first “People’s PMQs” event on Facebook, answering questions from the comments section – where he faced a barrage of abuse

The PM admitted a no-deal exit had become “more likely”.

He also failed to rule out a general election in order to thwart attempts to block a crash-out from the EU.

And he accused MPs fighting a no-deal – led by Philip Hammond, the former chancellor – of “a terrible collaboration” with Brussels in order to stop Brexit altogether.

“The awful thing is that the longer that goes on, the more likely it is of course that we will be forced to leave with a no-deal Brexit,” Mr Johnson said.

“That’s not what I want, that’s not what we’re aiming for, but we need our European friends to compromise.