Cameron faces fight to keep Lansley as senior Lib Dem demands he goes

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes has publicly called for Andrew Lansley to be sacked over his handling of the NHS reform bill in the latest setback to David Cameron's attempts to save his embattled health secretary.
 David Cameron has reiterated his support for Andrew Lansley 

Mr Hughes told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show it was his 'political judgement' that it 'would be better [for Mr Lansley] to move on'.

Writing in the Sunday Times, prime minister Mr Cameron had earlier reiterated his support for the controversial Health and Social Care Bill, telling ministers there would be no U-turn.

Simon Hughes said he wanted Andrew Lansley sacked

Several Tory Cabinet ministers have privately criticised Mr Lansley's personal handling of the bill, while a Downing Street source was quoted in the week as saying the health secretary should be 'taken outside and shot'.

Appearing on the same programme as Mr Hughes, however, culture secretary Jeremy Hunt defended Mr Lansley, saying he would ultimately be seen as the 'architect of the modern NHS'.

'The first thing I want to say is that Andrew Lansley is absolutely the right person for this job,' Mr Hunt said.

'Andrew Lansley is a decent man, passionate about the NHS and he knows what he is doing.

'It is completely wrong to make a judgement about someone when they are right in the middle of the storm.'

Support: Jeremy Hunt backed his Cabinet colleague Andrew Lansley 

Communities secretary Eric Pickles meanwhile told Sky News that Mr Lansley 'absolutely' should stay.

Mr Pickles also refused to name the Cabinet dissenters and insisted: 'I sit in a Cabinet that is united in wanting to see these reforms through.'

The Lib Dems have already distanced themselves from Mr Hughes' comments this morning, with a source close to deputy prime minister Nick Clegg saying his Lib Dem deputy had been expressing a personal opinion.

Earlier Mr Cameron wrote in the Sunday Times that he fully supports the principle of free health care, but added the system 'needs to change – and that is why I am at one with Andrew Lansley'.

According to the Mail on Sunday, Mr Cameron held a highly charged meeting at Downing Street on Saturday, where he 'thumped on the table' and committed to pressing ahead with the reforms.

The prime minister reportedly told attendees: 'We've not shed blood on these proposals not to go through with them.'

However, Tory MP Nadine Dorries, who previously worked as a nurse, said that ministers had been encouraged to challenge the bill.

'Lansley is toast. It is clear that Cameron wants to kill his own NHS bill – and Andrew Lansley's career with it,' she wrote in the newspaper.

Professional bodies such as the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing have voiced opposition to the bill, along with Labour leader Ed Miliband and shadow health secretary Andy Burnham.

Source:http://www.metro.co.uk/news/890087-david-cameron-faces-fight-to-keep-andrew-lansley-as-senior-lib-dem-demands-he-goes