DOUGLAS Ross has been told to end his “pathetic equivocation” and U-turn again to demand Boris Johnson’s resignation following the publication of Sue Gray’s partygate probe.
The Scottish Greens insist the scathing report should end the Prime Minister’s premiership.
The civil servant’s investigation confirms a culture of blatant rule-breaking in Downing Street and Whitehall during a period when people were unable to see dying loved ones due to strict Covid-19 legislation.
“The senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture,” Gray writes.
Scottish Greens MSP Gillian Mackay, who lost her mother and grandfather during the pandemic, said: “This report is damning and lays bare the utter contempt the Prime Minister has for the general public.
“At a time when people across the UK were making unbelievable sacrifices, Boris Johnson and his entourage were living it up, breaking the rules, and laughing about it, time after time. For those of us who lost a loved one during the pandemic this is no laughing matter.”
She continued: “The Prime Minister’s behaviour is bad enough on its own. But, his constant and repeated lying, to Parliament and the public, cannot be tolerated.
“Boris Johnson must be held to account for this appalling behaviour. He can no longer remain in post.
“If Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross wishes to salvage any remnant of self-respect, he must end his pathetic equivocation and resubmit his letter calling for Johnson to go.”
On Tuesday, the Scottish Conservatives declined to comment on calls for Ross to resubmit his letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister.
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford urged Johnson to resign at Prime Minister’s Questions.
In a statement released after the report was published, he said: "This report is utterly damning and the sordid details highlight the culture of boozy rule-breaking that Boris Johnson presided over. The findings also once again expose Boris Johnson's lies to Parliament and to the public.
"The Prime Minister's misconduct brings shame on the office he currently clings on to. He has displayed contempt – not only to Parliament – but to every single person who followed the rules: those who stayed away from family, those who missed funerals, those who lost someone they loved.
"The failure of leadership came directly from the top. And the Prime Minister – in the words of the report – must bear responsibility for the culture.
"If the Prime Minister refuses to do the right thing and resign then it is incumbent upon Tory MPs to step up and to finally do the right thing and remove him from office.
"The bottom line is that the longer they leave Boris Johnson in office the more damage they will do to public trust in this out of touch and broken UK Government."
Tory MSPs Alexander Stewart, Maurice Golden and Brian Whittle have called for the Prime Minister to resign.
SNP MSP Graeme Dey claimed Ross is "out of excuses". He said: "The Scottish Tory leader is also at risk of losing authority within his own party – as Tory MSPs defy his leadership to call for the resignation of Boris Johnson."
The MSP added: “Boris Johnson’s actions are disgraceful, either Tory MPs should remove him, or he should do the decent thing, for once, and resign. If Douglas Ross has a shred of credibility left, he will agree that the Prime Minister’s time is up, and he will call for his resignation.”
Scottish LibDem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton also backed calls for Ross to take action.
"This report lays out in black and white the culture of rule-breaking and lawbreaking presided over by the Prime Minister," Cole-Hamilton said. "He made the laws, broke them and then lied about it to the British public.
"This is also a defining moment for Douglas Ross in his leadership of the Scottish Conservatives. I have spoken to members of his party and Conservative voters who are shocked that he is still standing by a Prime Minister who is only out for himself. He needs to grow a backbone and submit his letter of no confidence.
"Every household in Britain faces eye-watering costs at the petrol pumps, sky-rocketing food prices and massive energy bills. It needs new hope and new leadership."
Scottish Labour added on social media: "Boris Johnson lied to Parliament and lied to the people. He has to go."
Among the damning details in the Gray report, the civil servant revealed scenes of excessive drinking in which at least one fight broke out, with a No 10 staffer also reported to have vomited at a party.
Red wine also had to be cleaned off the walls following one bash, with staff partying until 4.35am at another event on the day of Prince Philip's funeral.
Warnings that the parties should not have gone ahead were ignored, while civil service chief Martin Reynolds said of one event in the No 10 garden that "we seem to have got away with it".
Johnson insisted he takes “full responsibility for everything that took place on my watch”.
Making a statement in the House of Commons, he said: “I want to begin today by renewing my apology to the House, to the whole country, for the short lunchtime gathering on June 19, 2020 in the Cabinet Room, during which I stood at my place at the Cabinet table and for which I received a fixed penalty notice.
“I also want to say above all that I take full responsibility for everything that took place on my watch. Sue Gray’s report has emphasised that it is up to the political leadership in Number 10 to take ultimate responsibility and, of course, I do.”
The Tory leader added: “I am humbled and I have learned a lesson."
