Jackson Carlaw has refused to be drawn into criticism of Boris Johnson over his backing of Dominic Cummings. 

The Scottish Conservative leader finally broke his silence on the matter last night saying: “I’ve heard what the Prime Minister has said and it is a situation for him to judge.

“He has reached a conclusion and we must all now focus on continuing to beat this dreadful pandemic.”

READ MORE:  Politics LIVE: Boris Johnson facing party revolt over Dominic Cummings

He added that the Scottish Conservative focus “will be on challenging the Scottish Government saying: 

"Here in Scotland, our focus must be on tackling the ongoing crisis in our care homes and building a robust testing and tracing system.

“There are more worrying reports today that this is proving difficult, and the Scottish Conservative focus will be on challenging the Scottish Government and demanding that promises both to protect care homes and isolate the disease are kept.”

The Herald:

His response has been questioned due to its stark contrast with his statements following CMO Catherine Calderwood’s decision to travel from Edinburgh to her second home in Fife with her family; a journey that led to her resignation weeks into the UK-wide lockdown.

At the time, Carlaw said: “There cannot be one rule for bosses and another for everyone else.”

Boris Johnson is facing a revolt from within his own party as MPs from across the political spectrum line up to condemn the prime minister and his chief adviser Dominic Cummings.

Veteran Conservative Sir Roger Gale told the PA news agency: “I’m very disappointed, I think it was an opportunity to put this to bed and I fear that now the story is simply going to run and run.”

Senior Tory MP Simon Hoare, who had already called for Mr Cummings to go, later lamented Mr Johnson’s press conference, telling the Daily Mail: “The PM’s performance posed more questions than it answered. Any residual hope that this might die away in the next 24 hours is lost.”

Somerton and Frome MP David Warburton said he was “unconvinced” by the PM’s defence of Mr Cummings.

READ MORE: Tory MPs break ranks and demand sacking of Dominic Cummings

Tory grandee Lord Heseltine said it was “very difficult to believe there isn’t a substance” in the allegations about Mr Cumming’s movements.

“I think these unanswered questions are now on the agenda,” he told the BBC, “and I don’t think that this anxiety about the Government’s position will end until we know the whole story.”

Another Tory MP, Jason McCartney, said while it was important for people to show compassion during the crisis, Mr Cummings had to go because the “perceived hypocrisy of the rule makers potentially threatens the success of any future measures” under a second wave of the coronavirus.

Nicola Sturgeon called for Boris Johnson to remove Dominic Cummings from his position tweeting: “I know it is tough to lose a trusted adviser at the height of crisis, but when it’s a choice of that or integrity of vital public health advice, the latter must come first.”