Furious Tories branded veteran MP Christopher Chope a 'bed blocker' and 'selfish tw**' today after he intervened to stop Boris Johnson drawing a line under sleaze chaos.

Ministers had hoped the Commons

Furious Tories branded veteran MP Christopher Chope a 'bed blocker' and 'selfish tw**' today after he intervened to stop Boris Johnson drawing a line under sleaze chaos.

Ministers had hoped the Commons would 'nod through' a motion formally U-turning on the PM's shambolic attempt to protect ally Owen Paterson from punishment for lobbying.

But when it was brought up at 10pm a lone shout of 'Object' came from the Conservative benches.

Multiple sources named Sir Christopher Chope, who has a history of controversial interventions in Parliament, having previously blocked Bills on upskirting and female genital mutilation. 

He usually targets legislation proposed by backbenchers, complaining that it is not properly debated and too politically correct - although in this instance he might have been supporting his friend Mr Paterson.  

Under parliamentary conventions 'opposed' motions cannot be dealt with after business officially ends, meaning the government has had to table a full debate and vote this afternoon.

Government sources admitted it was a 'head in hands' moment, with one branding Sir Christopher a 'bed blocker' who is 'long past their value to the private sector and to parliament alike'.  

Even Sir Christopher's usual allies were seething at his 'habitual' behaviour. A veteran former minister told MailOnline: 'Does he think it will change anything? Utterly pointless.'   

Another Tory backbencher told MailOnline that Sir Christopher's intervention had been like 'picking at a scab', adding: 'Chope has done the Opposition's work.

'Instead of closing it all down last night, he has allowed the usual suspects to score political points again today. Very unhelpful and naive.'

Meanwhile, Mr Johnson is facing pressure on another front after a group of former civil service chiefs penned a letter demanding he bolsters standards rules for ministers.  

Several sources named the MP who made the objection as Christopher Chope

Sir Christopher's intervention was a 'head in hands' moment for Chief whip Mark Spencer (left) and Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg

Boris Johnson's latest woe in the sleaze row erupted as he was at the Lord Mayor's Banquet last night (pictured)

Ministerial aide Paul Holmes is said to have slated Sir Christopher as a 'selfish tw**' in a WhatsApp message to the 109 group of 2019 intake Tory MPs.

One minister told the Guardian: 'He has been for many year a Jurassic embarrassment - tonight he crossed a line. 

'The man should retire. If he comes into the Tea Room, colleagues would want to say two words to him and the second word would be 'off'.' 

The latest chaos follows Mr Johnson's botched attempt to tear up Parliament's anti-sleaze rules to block the suspension of former minister Mr Paterson for lobbying. 

An inquiry had found him guilty of an 'egregious' breach of lobbying rules on behalf of two firms which had paid him £500,000.

The Prime Minister ordered Tory MPs to back the plan and narrowly won the vote.

The plan was dropped the following day after a huge public backlash. Mr Paterson then quit as MP for North Shropshire following the botched attempt to delay his suspension. 

Yesterday's motion would have reversed the Government plan quietly, but Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans recognised the objection and said it was 'up to the Government to re-programme that particular motion'.

Labour's shadow leader of the Commons Thangam Debbonaire called the move 'astonishing', adding: 'You couldn't make it up.

The Commons had been expected to formally overturn the vote from last week that had protected former minister Owen Paterson from suspension for lobbying

'Two weeks ago the Prime Minister forced Tory MPs to tear up the rules on Standards just to protect one of their own. Now they can't even clear up their own mess.'

Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said the bungling was 'breathtaking'.

He told LBC: 'We've had a situation first of all where Owen Paterson, who was then one of the Government's senior backbench MPs, was found very clearly to have broken the rules.

'The Government has firstly avoided endorsing that report by frankly ripping up the rules and deciding just because the Government didn't like the conclusion that had been drawn, it would change the system.

'We now are in a situation where, unbelievably, another of the Government's backbenchers still won't accept the conclusion of the report.

'Why is it always one rule for this Government and one rule for everybody else?'

Every living former cabinet secretary have called for stronger powers for the Prime Minister's ethics adviser and said the regulator that examines ministers's conduct after office should be beefed up.

In a letter in The Times, cabinet secretaries from Lord Butler, who served under Margaret Thatcher in 1988, to Lord Sedwill, who left the Civil Service last year, said: 'The Government has committed to continually reinforcing high standards of conduct in public life.' 

The intervention will raise the pressure on Mr Johnson over the sleaze row that has erupted since he tried to save Mr Paterson. 

It came after the Business Secretary was forced to apologise to Westminster's sleaze watchdog for suggesting she should quit. 

Kwasi Kwarteng was accused of 'bullying' Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone when he said she should consider her position over the Paterson scandal. 

In a humiliating climbdown last night, Mr Kwarteng wrote to Miss Stone to 'apologise for any upset or distress my choice of words may have caused'.

He also acknowledged his comments could be seen as having 'fallen short' of the 'high standards' of the ministerial code, requiring ministers to treat public officials with 'consideration and respect'.

The letter appeared to be an attempt to head off an inquiry into whether he breached the code.

It was copied to Lord Geidt, who advises Mr Johnson on the code. 

Mr Johnson acknowledged on Sunday that he had bungled the issue, telling reporters: 'Of course, I think things could certainly have been handled better, let me put it that way - by me.' 

It comes as Labour launches a bid to ban MPs from acting as paid consultants.

The party will force a vote tomorrow on measures that would bar MPs from holding second jobs as consultants or company directors.