A SCOTTISH Tory MSP has defied leader Douglas Ross’s insistence that Boris Johnson should not resign after being fined for breaking his own Covid rules.
On Tuesday it emerged that Johnson, his wife Carrie and Chancellor Rishi Sunak had all been issued with fixed-penalty notices for a gathering held in Downing Street while Covid restrictions were in force.
It came as the Met confirmed that more than 50 fines had been handed out across Downing Street and Whitehall for various lockdown-breaking gatherings held during the pandemic.
When Johnson first admitted to having attended one of the gatherings, insisting he believed it was a work event, Ross said it was time for him to resign.
But after the invasion of Ukraine, when Johnson very much remained in his job, Ross U-turned and said the situation in eastern Europe was more important.
Despite the latest news about the fines, Ross continues to hold this position. His predecessor Ruth Davidson disagrees and wants Johnson to go.
Few Tories have publicly come forward to say they want the Prime Minister to go after Tuesday’s developments, but on Wednesday one MSP decided to speak out.
Brian Whittle, an MSP for the South Scotland region, put out a statement contradicting Ross’s position.
“Vladimir Putin’s brutal assault on Ukraine has rightly been the focus of the UK Government in recent weeks,” he wrote. “However, the seriousness of the actions [of] Boris Johnson and others in Downing Street during lockdown hasn’t diminished.
“When news of the lockdown parties first emerged, I said that the Prime Minister should hold himself accountable and resign. My view on that hasn’t changed.
“Here in Scotland Boris Johnson’s actions have made it far too easy for the SNP and the Greens to conceal behind a mask of outrage their own failures in government, from the crisis in the NHS to the hundreds of millions wasted on botched ferry deals.
“Leadership without accountability is no leadership at all. Boris Johnson should step down and allow a leadership election to take place by the end of the summer so we can put this issue to rest and move on.”
More to follow
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