DOUGLAS Ross has been told to break his “deafening silence” on the growing Tory sleaze scandal.
The Scottish Conservative boss, who campaigned hard for Nicola Sturgeon to resign claiming she had broken the ministerial code, has kept quiet as cronyism accusations engulf Westminster.
Labour yesterday called for the Liaison Committee to launch an investigation into Boris Johnson’s conduct, but the request was rejected.
Chairman Sir Bernard Jenkin said existing inquiries were already looking into the issues.
READ MORE: No 10 sources point finger at Cummings over Boris Johnson's Dyson text leaks
The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, the Public Accounts Committee and the Treasury Committee have all launched investigations into links between the Government and the business world.
The various investigations were prompted by revelations about former prime minister David Cameron’s lobbying on behalf of Greensill Capital but are also examining wider issues.
Meanwhile, Downing Street announced an internal inquiry into the leak of the private text messages between Johnson and Sir James Dyson.
Johnson promised the entrepreneur he would “fix” the issue after personal lobbying from Sir James as he sought to build ventilators at the height of the coronavirus crisis, in a series of text messages seen by the BBC.
The Prime Minister then texted him again saying: “[Chancellor] Rishi [Sunak] says it is fixed!! We need you here.”
The Chancellor has now been urged to “come clean” and publish his correspondence surrounding changes to tax rules and coronavirus support schemes.
READ MORE: David Cameron’s attempts to lobby Bank of England for Greensill revealed
SNP depute leader Keith Brown said it was “utterly shameful” that Ross and his party are in hiding amid the rows – which have seen Johnson, Sunak, Cameron, Matt Hancock and other senior figures under fire over Tory donors and friends being handed contracts, access, treatment and peerages by the Tory government.
Brown (below) commented: "Douglas Ross must finally break his deafening silence on the growing Tory sleaze scandal engulfing Westminster, condemn these seemingly dodgy deals and back calls for a full independent inquiry.
"The public have a right to know why Tory donors and friends have been handed contracts, special access, tax breaks and peerages by the Tory government, with the cost to the public purse extending to at least millions of pounds. It absolutely stinks.
"And the silence from the Scottish Tory leader shows he is unwilling or unable to call out his bosses on their behaviour.”
He added: "It is utterly shameful that the Scottish Tories have gone into hiding on this serious issue. If Douglas Ross had any integrity he would call out his Tory colleagues behaviour and back a full independent inquiry without delay."
Yesterday an internal Downing Street inquiry was launched into how messages between the Prime Minister and Sir James were leaked to journalists.
Boris Johnson’s former aide Dominic Cummings has been blamed for the leaking of the Prime Minister’s text messages.
SNP Westminster leader accused Johnson of wanting to “distract” from the real issues.
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