Douglas Ross says it 'wouldn't be right' to remove Boris Johnson as Prime Minister

Douglas Ross has said that it “wouldn’t be right” to remove Boris Johnson from office “at this time” after it was revealed the Prime Minister will be fined for breaking lockdown rules.

The Scottish Conservative leader pointed to the war in Ukraine and the need to be united in the face of Russian aggression.

It comes after it was confirmed that Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak, as well as Carrie Johnson, are being fined for lockdown-breaking gatherings across No 10 and Whitehall during the pandemic.

In a statement, Ross acknowledged the anger of the public over the rule breaches.

But the MP for Moray, who previously called for Johnson to resign, warned that doing so now could destabilise the UK Government.

“The public are rightly furious at what happened in Downing Street during the pandemic,” he said.

“I understand why they are angry and share their fury. The behaviour was unacceptable. The Prime Minister now needs to respond to these fines being issued.

“However, as I’ve made very clear, in the middle of war in Europe, when Vladimir Putin is committing war crimes and the UK is Ukraine’s biggest ally, as President Zelensky said at the weekend, it wouldn’t be right to remove the Prime Minister at this time.

“It would destabilise the UK Government when we need to be united in the face of Russian aggression and the murdering of innocent Ukrainians.”

Former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson called for the Prime Minister to resign over the issue.

She Tweeted: “Met confirms what we already knew: the PM introduced liberty-curtailing rules for public health reasons.

“This caused huge hardship for those separated from ill or dying loved ones.

“He then broke the rules he imposed on the country & lost the moral authority to lead. He should go.”