Douglas Ross has refused to call for Boris Johnson to quit after the Prime Minister breached lockdown party rules.
The Scottish Conservative leader cited the conflict in Ukraine as the reason for not demanding the PM's resignation.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie attacked Ross: “The facts are clear – the Prime Minister and the Chancellor are guilty of criminality.
“That Douglas Ross does not have the spine to condemn their actions and demand their removal from office is simply shocking.
Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are under immense pressure after the Government confirmed they would be issued with fixed penalty notices by the Met over the partygate scandal.
At the height of the row earlier this year, Ross angered colleagues by publicly calling for Johnson to go.
He then withdrew the quit call on the eve of his Scottish party’s conference, arguing that Russia’s actions in Ukraine meant now was not the time for Johnson to go.
With the sanction being confirmed today, Ross has doubled down on his u-turn.
He said: "The public are rightly furious at what happened in Downing Street during the pandemic. I understand why they are angry and share their fury. The behaviour was unacceptable. The Prime Minister now needs to respond to these fines being issued.
"However, as I've made very clear, in the middle of war in Europe, when Vladimir Putin is committing war crimes and the UK is Ukraine's biggest ally, as President Zelensky said at the weekend, it wouldn't be right to remove the Prime Minister at this time.
“It would destabilise the UK Government when we need to be united in the face of Russian aggression and the murdering of innocent Ukrainians."
Baillie added: “Douglas Ross’s silence is deeply insulting to the thousands of Scots who abided by the rules despite considerable personal hardship.
"By not speaking out, Mr Ross is giving tacit approval to the criminality of the two most powerful men in the UK.
“No one is above the law.
“The Tory party is not fit to govern and not fit to represent the people of Britain.
“Douglas Ross must call for the resignations of the Prime Minister and Chancellor immediately.”
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