Two of Scotland’s top entrepreneurs have given a scathing indictment of Boris Johnson, following the publication of the Sue Gray report into Partygate. Speaking on the Go Radio Business Show with Hunter & Haughey, Sir Tom Hunter said: “In 2020 the Government brought in the most draconian measures of my lifetime. You couldn’t attend a loved one’s funeral. You couldn’t go to a nursing home to see loved ones.

“I hate being told what to do, especially by the Government. However Boris Johnson went on TV and said this was for the greater good, this is what you need to do, and I got it. I did what I was told.

“The simple thing is those who made the rules, broke the rules and often and they seemingly thought the rules didn’t apply to them. That’s the bit that sticks in my craw, that it didn’t apply to them. Well, it did. Now the trust is broken.”

Sir Tom told listeners that he believed the Prime Minister’s position had become untenable, adding: “I’m afraid Johnson is not going go by his own volition. It will be the voters who are going to have to tell him at the ballot box. Boris Johnson is not fit to govern this country. He needs to go.”

Lord Willie Haughey agreed, offering a business analogy of what had happened.

“This is like the executive wing in my office, with my finance director, operations director, HR director and others, all of whom sit very close to me. We work just like we would work in Number 10. So you can read into this, if everyone here is having parties, it’s because they got the nod from me. This came from the top.

“Boris Johnson was not an innocent bystander, stumbling into a small drinks reception or his birthday party. All of that came about because it was absolutely encouraged from the top. The party culture was encouraged from the leader.”

The show’s host, Donald Martin, editor of The Herald and Herald on Sunday, pressed both entrepreneurs on whether, in purely business terms, having got the culture so badly wrong, should the PM be given a chance to change it or simply be out.

“I think Boris Johnson has proven he’s not capable of changing this DNA, has slight regard for everything that is correct, and has absolutely no chance of changing whatsoever. So this will continue,” said Lord Haughey.

“I think he has had more chances than anyone. If this was a PLC, he would be voted out. The shareholders, the investors and the board would be saying goodbye, Mr Chief Executive!

“For me the values in business are all about being fair, doing the right thing, being honest.

“Everyone in my senior management team, maybe a group of 12 people, knows what is right and don’t have to come and ask me. For me a good leader ensures people understand their roles, understand what they do and understand what is right.

I very seldom get a call from any of my senior management team when a decision’s got to be made about what was right and wrong. They absolutely know and understand.”

Sir Tom agreed, adding “Leaders set the tone of an organisation by their actions more than their words. When I was running a big company, I was first in in the morning and last out at night. I set the tone. People watch the leader and take their cues from them. Boris Johnson should have said: ‘Right, buckle down here, we’ve set these rules. We need to be above reproach here because I’ve asked the country to make a huge sacrifice. And I, as the leader of this country, need to be capable and to be seen to be making the same sacrifice.’

“I’m actually sorry to say this but I think this stems from his own privileged upbringing. He doesn’t think the rules apply to him . . . and he needs to go.”