DOUGLAS Ross is being urged to “break his silence” and condemn Boris Johnson for his actions in carrying out a “disgraceful” watering down of the ministerial code.
Following the publication of the Sue Gray report last week, the Scottish Tory leader said that Johnson should remain in Downing Street because of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
On Friday Johnson was accused of changing the ministerial code to “save his own skin” after amending the rules to make it clear ministers will not always be expected to resign for breaching the code of conduct.
This sparked a barrage of criticism, including from former Scottish Tory frontbencher Professor Adam Tomkins, who branded it “corrupt and disgraceful”.
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Tomkins described it as a “betrayal of everything Conservatives are supposed to believe about our constitutional democracy”.
SNP MSP Gillian Martin said Johnson’s actions should be a trigger for Ross to resubmit his letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister, which he previously withdrew.
She said: “These latest actions from Boris Johnson prove beyond any doubt that the Tory Prime Minister has no remorse for partygate, no respect for people across the country and no problem rewriting rules that are central to a functioning democracy so long as he can protect himself.
“It’s now vital to protect our democracy that he is removed as Prime Minister but, sadly, only Tory MPs have the power to make this happen.
“Douglas Ross has made a series of pathetic excuses to defend Boris Johnson’s lawbreaking and lying. Now the Prime Minister has stooped to a new low by rewriting the rules and blocking attempts for independent investigations into his conduct, and Douglas Ross has remained shamefully silent – what will it take for Douglas Ross to say enough is enough?”
She added: “Boris Johnson is threatening our democracy and we cannot let him get away with it – even former Tory colleagues of Ross, like Adam Tomkins, know it.
“If this does not push Douglas Ross to admit that it is time for Boris Johnson to go and resubmit his letter of no confidence then the Scottish Tory leader should be honest that nothing will, and the only way to be free of undemocratic Tory Westminster control is for Scotland to become a normal independent country.”
Meanwhile, a former cabinet minister has said discontent in the Conservative ranks is growing because MPs fear they may lose their seats over the Downing Street lockdown parties fallout.
Boris Johnson critic David Davis said his colleagues “see their own seats disappearing” as Tory popularity continues to languish in the wake of the so-called partygate saga.
The comments come as the Prime Minister faces mounting calls to resign following the publication of senior civil servant Gray’s investigation into Covid rule-breaking in No 10 and Whitehall during lockdowns in England.
Former health minister Steve Brine was discovered to have added his name to the list of Tory MPs to have handed in letters of no confidence in the Prime Minister. Newton Abbot MP Anne Marie Morris is also among the letter writers.
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tories, will be obliged to order a confidence vote if he receives 54 letters demanding one.
More than 20 MPs have publicly stated that they no longer support Johnson but more may have penned letters given the process is carried out in secret. Brine said Gray’s report had not altered his view that it was “inevitable the Prime Minister would face a vote of confidence”.
“All I can do as a backbencher is seek to trigger that process and (some time ago actually) I have done that,” he said in a statement. I have said throughout this sorry saga I cannot and will not defend the indefensible. Rule-makers cannot be law-breakers.”
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