Humza Yousaf has warned that Scottish Tory MPs will face the wrath of voters if they fail to vote to sanction former prime minister Boris Johnson.
With MPs debating a report from the Privileges Committee which ruled the one-time Tory leader had lied to Parliament over lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street during the Covid pandemic, Mr Yousaf insisted MPs would be “betraying the people they represent” if they were to vote in Mr Johnson’s favour, or even to abstain.
Mr Johnson quit the Commons before the committee delivered its recommendations, which could see him banned from receiving the pass to access Parliament which is usually available to former MPs.
The Scottish First Minister declared that “every single Scottish MP must vote to sanction Boris Johnson” – including the six Scottish Tory MPs.
Any Scottish Tory MP that is going to abstain or not vote to sanction Boris Johnson, they rightly will face the wrath of the Scottish people at the ballot box— First Minister Humza Yousaf
Crucially, that includes Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, who currently sits as both an MP and an MSP.
Monday’s Commons debate on the former prime minister comes as Scottish Secretary Alister Jack insisted Mr Johnson was an “enormous talent”, adding he was “very sorry” about the “way things ended”
Mr Jack told Holyrood magazine: “I know the public perception was that he was not popular in Scotland, I understand that, but it was a false perception. I found when I walked the streets with him in Scotland, people were incredibly supportive.”
However, Mr Yousaf condemned the former prime minister’s “flagrant disregard” for lockdown rules.
The First Minister said: “I think those that choose to turn up to the vote and abstain, or indeed vote against the sanctions, any Scottish Tory MP who does that is betraying the people they represent.
“Boris Johnson, and indeed the Conservative Party more generally, have shown flagrant disregard for rules that many of us, most of us, adhered.
“At the extreme end of that we saw people literally missing the funerals of loved ones, not being able to say goodbye, while they partied in Conservative headquarters. That is a betrayal of people’s trust.
“Any Scottish Tory MP that is going to abstain or not vote to sanction Boris Johnson, they rightly will face the wrath of the Scottish people at the ballot box, I don’t doubt that for a minute.”
