A SCOTTISH Conservative MSP who joined the majority of his colleagues in calling for Boris Johnson to step down has now dismissed the furore over the partygate scandal as a “difference of opinion”.
Craig Hoy, a Conservative MSP for South Scotland, was speaking to BBC Good Morning Scotland when he was challenged on the U-turn made by his boss, Douglas Ross, over the calls.
Ross was branded “spineless” after he withdrew a letter of no confidence.
Despite reports initially saying senior Tories thought it “inconceivable” that Johnson would speak at the Scottish Tory conference on March 18 and 19, Ross also U-turned on that.
READ MORE: Why Douglas Ross's reasoning for a U-turn on Boris Johnson is not genuine
Asked if he supported Ross’s decision to back Johnson as Prime Minister, Hoy said: “Yes, I do.”
He went on: “I think that it is quite clear that the minute Russian boots landed on the ground in Ukraine that the world had changed and it had changed considerably for the worse.”
Hoy had previously said: "It’s clear that the PM should now go. A line has been crossed."
However, he said on Tuesday that it would be “reckless for us to even be considering” ousting Johnson given the situation in Ukraine, adding: “I think at this point in time we need to make sure the UK has a strong response to what’s happening, and the only resignation I want to see at this point in time is Vladimir Putin’s.”
Hoy was then asked if he would welcome the Prime Minister “with open arms” at the Scottish Conservative conference, but he again returned to the topic of the Russian invasion.
He said: “I look forward to hearing an update from the Prime Minister on the situation in the Ukraine.”
Addressing the partygate scandal, Hoy said: “We obviously had a difference of opinion over what went before, but to be completely honest with you we are looking at a very different world now.”
Hoy also spoke about the First Minister’s Covid statement, to be given to MSPs at Holyrood on Tuesday afternoon.
He said he would like to hear that all remaining restrictions will be lifted on March 21, despite rising case numbers and hospitalisations being at a 13-month high.
Hoy said it was time to move to a “system where we trust the Scottish people to do the right thing”, but also said he thought that many of the restrictions currently in place were being “widely flouted”.
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