RUTH Davidson has declared Boris Johnson’s position “untenable” after pictures were published of the Prime Minister partying at a Downing Street leaving do during lockdown.
The former Scottish Tory leader has piled further pressure on Douglas Ross to again reverse his position on whether Johnson should resign.
The images showing the Prime Minister raising a glass – obtained by ITV News – were taken at a do for departing communications chief Lee Cain on 13 November 2020, just days after Johnson had ordered a second national lockdown in England.
Asked last December in the Commons whether there had been a party in No 10 on that date, the Prime Minister said “no” and added he was sure the rules were followed at all times. Opposition leaders say Johnson has undeniably lied to Parliament.
The Prime Minister has also been accused of applying pressure to civil servant Sue Gray not to publish what is expected to be a highly damning report on her partygate investigation.
Ross has called on Johnson to explain himself. Davidson, who has consistently called for the PM to resign, went further.
She told Channel 4 News on Monday evening: “There is now photographic evidence that when the Prime Minister stood up in Parliament and was asked directly was there a party in No 10 on this date and he replied ‘no’, he lied to Parliament.
“I don’t think his job is tenable and his position is tenable. The office of Prime Minister should be above being traduced by the person who holds it.”
Speaking to the BBC, the baroness added: “We should not be ashamed of holding those we elect to high office, those that we put in leadership positions, to holding them to a higher standard.
“I think the public won’t forget. They know what they were doing that November. They know what they gave up and what they sacrificed and what they were asked to sacrifice, while this man who was in charge and telling them to make all these sacrifices was holding up a glass of champagne in a room that was littered with empty bottles of wine, making a toast, making a speech and encouraging people to meet and socialise, knowing that he’d been on television saying that that was against the rules.
“I don’t think the voters of this country will forget that in a hurry.”
Facing pressure to revert to a tougher stance on his Westminster boss, Ross did not accept an invitation to speak on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland on Tuesday.
He said on Monday: “These images will rightly make people across the country very angry. The Prime Minister must outline why he believes this behaviour was acceptable. To most, these pictures seem unjustifiable and wrong.”
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police is facing questions as to why Johnson was not fined in relation to the event when photographs showed him, drink in hand, alongside a table strewn with food and wine bottles.
There were at least eight other people in the room at a time when people were banned from social mixing, other than to meet one person outside, and at least one individual has received a fixed penalty notice in relation to an event on that date.
LibDem deputy leader Daisy Cooper has written to the Independent Office for Police Conduct calling for it to examine the Met’s Operation Hillman inquiry into events in No 10 and Whitehall.
In an explosive accusation, the force's former Deputy Assistant Commissioner suggested police chiefs went deliberately easy on Downing Street.
Brain Paddick told LBC: "I think that the Met may not have investigated this as thoroughly as they could have done because they didn't want to upset Number 10."
'I think that the Met may not have investigated this as thoroughly as they could have done because they didn't want to upset Number 10.' Ex-Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner @brianpaddick speaks to LBC as Westminster waits for the Sue Gray report to be released.@AndrewMarr9 pic.twitter.com/6YFpP6Y6EK
— LBC (@LBC) May 23, 2022
The latest disclosures come as Sue Gray, the senior civil servant who investigated lockdown breaches in Whitehall, is preparing to publish her final report.
Downing Street is understood to believe it is probable it will receive the senior civil servant’s report on Wednesday.
Supporters of the Prime Minister have been growing in confidence that he can survive calls for his resignation after receiving just one fine over a gathering the Cabinet Office for his 56th birthday.
But there is still nervousness at Westminster that his position could come under renewed pressure if – as many expect – Gray is highly critical of the culture in No 10 and Whitehall which resulted in repeated violations of the rules.
The Times has reported Johnson suggested to Gray that there was now no need for her to publish her report following the completion of the police investigation.
The paper quoted a Whitehall source as saying: “He asked her was there much point in doing it now that it’s all out there.”
There was no immediate comment from No 10.
In the short term, Johnson’s fate will lie with Tory MPs who will have to decide whether Gray’s findings are sufficiently serious to warrant a push to oust him as leader.
Veteran Conservative backbench MP Sir Roger Gale – a long-standing critic of the PM – said it was clear that he should go.
“It’s absolutely clear that there was a party, that he attended it, that he was raising a glass to toast one of his colleagues. And therefore, he misled us from the despatch box. And, honourably, there is one answer,” he told Times Radio.
A No 10 spokeswoman said: “The Cabinet Office and the Met Police have had access to all information relevant to their investigations, including photographs.
“The Met have concluded their investigation and Sue Gray will publish her report in the coming days, at which point the Prime Minister will address Parliament in full.”
Grant Shapps said he was “angry” to see the photographs but suggested Johnson may not have been fined over the event because he left the leaving do “pretty quick” and was unaware it was a party.
SNP deputy Westminster leader Kirsten Oswald told Good Morning Scotland: “It couldn’t be clearer. We all know what a party looks like when it’s photographed. There it was in front of us in all its glory – the empty glasses, the half-empty bottles and the people, and that includes the Prime Minister there raising his glass. It’s obvious what was going on.”
