Under-fire Rishi Sunak will today whisk his cabinet out of London in what critics have branded a "hideaway" - after failing to put a minister on the airwaves for the third morning this week.
Mr Sunak's top team will today meet for an away day at his grace-and-favour country house in Buckinghamshire as pressure mounts over Nadhim Zahawi's tax penalty.
Yet again no minister has been offered up to face a grilling on breakfast TV and radio.
It is the third time this week that no member of the government has appeared on shows including BBC Breakfast, Good Morning Britain and BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.
Only police minister Chris Philp has appeared on the broadcast rounds this week as the government swerves tough questions about Mr Sunak's leadership.
As The Mirror revealed last year, the government has stopped daily interviews - a move heavily criticised by the opposition - having previously selected a minister to be interviewed on air every day.
The trip to Chequers comes after days of difficult headlines about Mr Zahawi's tax affairs, with the Conservative Party chairman subject to an ethics probe.
It is believed Mr Zahawi will be present, but it is not clear whether he will be making a presentation to colleagues about the upcoming local elections.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said the result of that investigation, which the Prime Minister announced on Monday, could take just 10 days.
It means the conclusions could be on Mr Sunak's desk as early as the tail end of next week.
The Cabinet country outing, which Downing Street said would focus on the Prime Minister's political priorities, has been dubbed a "hideaway day" by opposition parties.
No10 has offered few details about what the away day would entail, but the Prime Minister's official spokesman said Cabinet ministers would be "focused on the five priority areas" that Mr Sunak spoke about in his new year's speech.
The Liberal Democrats accused the Cabinet of effectively dodging scrutiny as the country grapples with a range of crises.
"While Rishi Sunak and his scandal-hit ministers hold a 'hideaway' day at Chequers, the rest of the country is suffering from this endless Conservative chaos," said Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper.
"The NHS is in crisis and people are struggling to pay their rent or mortgage, but Conservative ministers are too busy fighting to save their own careers.
"Sunak's promise to govern with integrity now lies in tatters. He can't even tackle the multiple crises facing his Cabinet, let alone the huge challenges facing the country."
Mr Sunak ordered an investigation by Sir Laurie Magnus, his independent adviser on ministers' interests, into whether Mr Zahawi broke ministerial rules over the estimated £4.8 million bill he settled with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) while he was chancellor.
Mr Stride, put to him on ITV's Peston programme on Wednesday that rumours suggested the probe could be done within 10 days, said it "wouldn't be untypical" for Sir Laurie to operate in that timeframe.
He added: "I can't be drawn on an arrangement of which I don't know all the details.
"But the good news is that we will, in around it sounds like ten days' time or thereabouts, hear from the ethics adviser, who will report to the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister will then have the facts and be able to make exactly those judgments."
Lord Barwell, who served as Downing Street chief of staff to Theresa May, said the lack of public defence being offered for Mr Zahawi suggested his role could be in jeopardy.
The Conservative peer told Channel 4 News: "I think when you see other ministers not willing to defend a colleague and when you see No 10 confirming that 'we didn't know these facts when the Prime Minister said that', it gives you an indication of which way the wind is blowing."
Asked whether the "game might be up", the former MP appeared to nod his head in agreement.
Mr Sunak, at Prime Minister's Questions, acknowledged that he had not been given the full picture about the Minister Without Portfolio's financial matters when he told MPs last week that Mr Zahawi had given a "full" account.
The Prime Minister also said it might be "politically expedient" to sack the former vaccines minister, but stressed it was important for "due process" to be followed.
Trade minister Andrew Bowie insisted Mr Sunak would sack his party chairman if he is found to have broken the ministerial code, but Downing Street said changes to the code meant that would not automatically be the case.
