A Tory MP has called on Boris Johnson to quit as his position is untenable. Nigel Mills is thought to be the first Conservative backbencher to call for the Prime Minister to quit since he was fined for attending a birthday party in breach of covid rules.
Mr Johnson and the Chancellor Rishi Sunak were hit with criminal sanctions for attending a gathering in the Cabinet Room in June 2020. Following the fines Mr Mills told the PA news agency “we have every right to expect higher standards of people making these laws”.
Asked if he thought the PM’s position was untenable, the MP for Amber Valley told the PA news agency: “Yeah, I think for a prime minister in office to be given a fine and accept it and pay it for breaking the laws that he introduced… is just an impossible position. We’ve every right to expect higher standards of people making these laws… so the idea that he can survive having broken one and accepted he’s broken (it), I just think is impossible.”
Asked if Parliament should be recalled to enable a change as soon as possible, Mr Mills said: “It would be almost impossible to recall Parliament before Tuesday when we’re back anyway.” He added: “There’s almost zero chance that a motion of confidence in the House of Commons would be lost.
"So we can all send our letters to Sir Graham Brady… to be honest though, I’d be very surprised if he either resigns or there’s 180 of us that want rid of him. So I think he will carry on for now.”
He said he is “not convinced” by the argument that it is not the right time for a change in leadership in the UK, given the crisis in Ukraine. He said: “I have two comments on that. The first one is, when will Ukraine be any better than it is now? If you told me this crisis would be over in three months’ time, then you might say, ‘well OK, let’s get this done (then) the Prime Minister can meet his fate’.
“But the Ukraine crisis could last for a very, very long time. Are we saying there’s no chance of a change of prime minister for years?
“The second thing I’d say… France are having an election – and they’re one of the three biggest parts of Nato. So if they can have an election with the alternative candidate being someone who probably (has) a radically different policy in relation to Ukraine than President (Emmanuel) Macron, whereas I don’t think any of the leadership contenders we would have would have a different policy to the Prime Minister.
“So there wouldn’t really be any uncertainty that we would keep sending them as many weapons as we can and they want, and as much aid as we can, but we’re not going to be intervening. So I’m not convinced.”
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