West Dunbartonshire politicans have united in their calls for Boris Johnson to resign over the Partygate scandal.
The Prime Minister is facing renewed pressure amid suggestions of a second gathering in the Number 10 flat and a drip-feed of Tory MPs calling for his resignation.
It follows the publication of Sue Gray’s damning report last week into a series of boozy parties hosted at Number 10 and at Whitehall whilst the rest of the nation were locked down.
West Dunbartonshire SNP MP Martin Docherty-Hughes said: “The Sue Gray report into law-breaking at Number 10 during lockdown is utterly damning of Boris Johnson and the callousness of this Westminster government.
“At the height of the pandemic, while the Prime Minister was raising toasts at boozy parties in Downing Street, my constituents in West Dunbartonshire were making unimaginable sacrifices to keep our communities safe.
“No insincere apology from Boris Johnson can make up for the disregard they have shown to the families who lost loved ones to Covid.
“This Tory Prime Minister broke the law, misled the House of Commons, and lied to the public. He should do the decent thing for once and resign.”
Another two Tory MPs have meanwhile called for Boris Johnson to resign, bringing to 26 the number of backbenchers who have publicly declared they have lost confidence in the Prime Minister.
Former attorney general Jeremy Wright said events in Downing Street have caused “real and lasting damage” to the Government’s authority and that he has concluded “with regret” that Johnson should go.
It comes as reports emerged that the Prime Minister’s wife, Carrie Johnson, may now have had two lockdown parties in family flat above Number 10.
Labour has called for an investigation into leaked texts suggesting there was a second gathering in Boris Johnson’s Downing Street flat on his birthday in 2020.
Leaked messages, reported by the Sunday Times, suggest Johnson’s wife Carrie was with two friends in the Downing Street flat on his birthday in June 2020.
It is the second time that the Prime Minister’s wife is said to have attended a Covid rule-breaking event in the flat.
The other gathering, the so-called Abba party was on November 13, 2020, when loud music could be heard coming from Downing Street.
Neither party was investigated in the Sue Gray report or the Met’s investigation that saw both Carrie and Boris Johnson fined for the earlier birthday bash in Downing Street.
Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie said the only solution was for Johnson to step down, commenting: “Boris Johnson has completely lost his grip on reality.
“He keeps saying he accepts responsibility for his actions but he has not demonstrated this. It is entirely inappropriate for a lawmaker to be a serial lawbreaker and to deliberately lie to parliament is a new low.
“I was inundated with calls and emails from constituents at the height of lockdown, when the PM and his colleagues were partying, distraught at not being able to see their loved ones, including some whose relatives were dying. Funerals were heavily restricted and people were unable to grieve properly.
“The only solution is for Boris Johnson to step down so the country can move on and the Government can focus on the job at hand, helping our people through a devastating cost of living crisis.”
