A SCOTTISH Tory frontbencher has claimed the Prime Minister cannot be replaced “during a time of conflict and crisis” as he insisted Boris Johnson is fit for office.
Douglas Ross’s group of MSPs at Holyrood collectively called for the PM to resign after breaking Covid rules his Government set.
After Mr Ross put in a letter to the Tory backbench 1922 Committee calling for Mr Johnson to quit, Scottish Conservative health spokesperson Sandesh Gulhane tweeted his support for the decision, pointing to his experience as a front line doctor during the lockdown.
Dr Gulhane was pressed over the Scottish Conservative group at Holyrood’s newfound support for the Prime Minister after Mr Ross withdrew his letter calling for a leadership contest days before the PM addressed the party conference in Aberdeen.
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday Show, Dr Gulhane said it was “very important” that Mr Johnson attended the Scottish Tory conference in person.
Pressed over whether Mr Johnson should still be Prime Minister, Dr Gulhane said: “What we need to be absolutely clear about is we don’t want to be destabilising Britain right now and that’s what a leadership election would do.”
Dr Gulhane was pressed on whether it is possible to change the PM during a crisis, saying that “during a time of conflict and crisis, absolutely not”.
He added: “It’s not time for introspection and naval-gazing. Now is the time for action and helping people of Ukraine and that’s exactly what we need to do.
“Boris Johnson is fit to lead the country because we’re in a crisis and he is showing with his decisions and things that Britain is doing.
“We are seeing results – we are seeing what Boris Johnson is doing and we are seeing the positivity that’s coming out of Ukraine. We need to keep that going.”
Meanwhile Chancellor Rishi Sunak has appeared at odds with Cabinet colleague Jacob Rees-Mogg on the row over lockdown parties in Downing Street insisting that “of course it damaged trust”.
Asked about Brexit Opportunities Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg’s dismissal of the investigation into events at Whitehall as trivial “fluff”, Mr Sunak told BBC One’s Sunday Morning programme: “I’ve made my points clear about partygate in the past; of course it damaged trust.
“It was right that the Prime Minister took responsibility for that in the way that he did, he made repeated statements in Parliament from the despatch box promising changes, those changes have already started to take impact, and it’s right that they have.”
Mr Sunak added: “I think people were angry and had the right to be angry about what was happening and I think it damaged trust, but it’s also right that that responsibility has been taken and steps are being taken to change things, that has already happened.”
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