A SCOTTISH Tory MP has enraged his constituents after refusing to criticise Dominic Cummings for his lockdown trip to Durham.

West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine representative Andrew Bowie issued a statement after Scottish Tory colleague Douglas Ross resigned as a minister over the scandal.

Four senior members of the Scottish Tory shadow cabinet at Holyrood have also called for Cummings to go, which piled the pressure on Jackson Carlaw to condemn the PM’s top aide. Carlaw has since called for Cummings to step down.

Scottish Tory MSP and chief whip Liz Smith also demanded Cummings’ resignation, saying she had been contacted by more than 200 angry constituents about the lockdown trip.

READ MORE: Jackson Carlaw FINALLY calls for Dominic Cummings to resign

But in a statement posted on social media and sent to outraged constituents, Bowie was non-committal.

Acknowledging that “many people” had contacted him to express their disgust at Cummings’ actions, Bowie wrote: “Firstly, can I say that I fully understand your anger and upset.”

He continued: “These are incredibly difficult and trying times. Many of us have sacrificed so much as we have followed the guidance to stay at home as the country battles Covid-19.

“I myself was unable to attend the funeral of a family member who died of Covid 19 in late March due to the restrictions on our movements and equally the restrictions on numbers attending funerals. So I know how tough this has been.”

Yet instead of giving his thoughts on the matter, Bowie copy and pasted the statement Cummings read at his Downing Street press conference.

Bowie concluded his comments by stating: “Please be aware that I have passed on the concerns of all who have contacted me regarding this matter.”

The post on Twitter was met with a deluge of angry responses from West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine constituents.

“Pleasantly surprised to find my local MP has at least taken the time to copy and paste this vapid nonsense into an email to me as well, after I emailed him over the weekend to express my anger,” one wrote.

Another posted: “This is my MP's ‘response’ to the Dominic Cummings story. It's pathetic, your constituents expect and deserve more @AndrewBowie_MP.”

A separate reply read: “I emailed my MP @AndrewBowie_MP, this tweet is verbatim his reply to me. I have no words for how awful this makes me feel, sadly I expected more – I'm appalled, angry and upset. Shame on all of them!”

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon: Douglas Ross resignation was 'fair play'

Before Bowie had published his statement online, colleague Ross said he felt he could no longer serve as a member of the UK Government after while Cummings remains in his post as the PM’s top adviser.

Following the chief aide’s unprecedented press conference on his 250-mile lockdown trip with his wife and son, Ross wrote: “I have constituents who didn’t get to say goodbye to loved ones; families who could not mourn together; people who didn’t visit sick relatives because they followed the guidance of the government.

“I cannot in good faith tell them they were all wrong and one senior adviser to the government was right.”