Boris Johnson has refused to back down on his use of the phrase “surrender bill” to refer to anti-no-deal Brexit legislation, after he prompted widespread condemnation by telling MPs they should honour the memory of Jo Cox by delivering Brexit.

But he admitted in a TV interview there was a need to “bring people together, and get this thing done”. Mr Johnson did not turn up to face MPs’ outrage in the Commons on Thursday, after he had dismissed warnings of death threats made against them as “humbug”.

His own sister Rachel Johnson described his remarks as “highly reprehensible”, but far-right activists hailed his comments as “brilliant”. The row comes as the PM lost a vote on holding a recess for the Tory party conference: his seventh straight defeat in the Commons.

Tone was the topic of the day in Westminster as MPs of all stripes admitted they had failed to remain civil amid the chaos of Brexit.

There were mutters of “hear, hear” as John Bercow told the Commons it had done itself no credit during last night’s fractious debate, while the Equality and Human Rights Commission was forced to step in and remind politicians of the advice they were given, in the wake of the Brexit referendum three years ago, to be respectful when discussing the subject.

The PM’s top adviser, Dominic Cummings, said it was not surprising that the public was angry about Brexit and that ”a lot of people in parliament are more out of touch with the country now, than they were in summer 2016”.

He added: ”People on all sides have said things that veered between unwise and very unpleasant, and sometimes criminal. That is true of people of the Leave side and that’s true of people on the Remain side.”

In Brussels, Mr Johnson was given some breathing room when the European Commission said it had not endorsed the negotiating deadline of next week that had been set by Emmanuel Macron. It came as member states’ disquiet grew over the lack of proposals from the UK.

But the good news was limited on a day in which the PM lost his seventh consecutive Commons vote, asking for a recess to allow the Conservative Party conference to take place – maintaining his 100 per cent loss record.