IAN Blackford has said he “feels sorry” for the Scottish Tory leader because his career has been “ruined” by the Prime Minister.
The SNP’s Westminster leader told MPs on Thursday that Douglas Ross had been “thrown under the Boris bus”.
Ross has withdrawn his calls for Boris Johnson to stand down despite him being found to have broken the law during lockdown.
He said the Ukraine crisis made it inappropriate for a change of leadership.
The Scottish Tories have been branded “spinless” due to their change in position, though MSP Brian Whittle is still calling for the Prime Minister’s resignation.
Blackford dressed down the Scottish Tories during a debate on whether to refer Johnson to a committee to investigate whether he lied to parliament over breaking Covid rules.
Ian Blackford delivers devastating verdict on Boris Johnson as PM faces lying probe pic.twitter.com/8dKp9tRyIU
— The National (@ScotNational) April 21, 2022
READ MORE: Westminster no-show suggests Douglas Ross fears election losses, polling expert says
The Prime Minister told MPs multiple times all rules had been followed in Downing Street.
Ross failed to show up for the vote today in his role as the MP for Moray and attended Holyrood in his role as an MSP for First Minister’s Questions.
Blackford said: “For most people it’s understandable that their main reaction to the flipflopping Scottish Tory leader on his support for the Prime Minister is disbelief and justified anger but I have to admit when I reflect on the position of [Ross] my main reaction is something I know he will appreciate far, far less.
“I actually feel sorry for him, because he is by no means the first person to have his career ruined by the Prime Minister.
“That particular pile of people is mountain-high by this stage because ultimately everybody, and I mean everybody, is eventually thrown under the Boris bus.”
He added: “The Scottish Tory leader is probably the only person in the Conservative Party who finds himself in a deeper hole than the Prime Minister.
“In fact, he is so far down that political hole, that he obviously found it impossible to dig his way out and vote his boss out tonight.”
Tory MPs have a free vote on whether to send Johnson to the privileges committee, the Leader of the House of Commons has said.
Steve Baker, a former Tory minister has called on the Prime Minister to step down.
He said: "The Prime Minister now should be long gone.
“Really, the Prime Minister should just know the gig’s up.
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