SNP calls on Boris Johnson to resign after Brexit minister steps down

The SNP has called on Boris Johnson to resign after the Brexit minister stepped down with “immediate effect”.

Lord Frost, who has led negotiations with the EU, handed in his resignation letter to the Prime Minister last week with an agreement to leave in January.

The shock resignation is the latest in a series of recent setbacks for Johnson.

The SNP’s Foreign Affairs spokesman Alyn Smith MP says the news should serve as a “wake-up call” for the Tory government as he called on the PM “to do the right thing and resign”.

He said: “Lord Frost’s resignation, along with the thumping defeat in the most recent by-election, tells us all we need to know about the direction Boris Johnson is dragging this UK government.

“Even his closest allies want no part of it – as Lord Frost walks away from the Brexit shambles he created.

“If nothing else, this should serve as a wake up call to the Tory government and Boris Johnson.

“On top of lying, his Brexit mess, and being at the centre of every scandal in Westminster in recent times, he has held us all in contempt by having Christmas parties while the rest of us were told to abide by coronavirus restrictions.

“The Prime Minister should do the right thing and resign.

“The Tories’ hard Brexit – helped along by Lord Frost – has also left everyone in a worse position, especially Scotland and Northern Ireland who didn’t even vote for it.

“Lord Frost may have resigned but he cannot be allowed to evade accountability while he takes up a cushy seat in the House of Lords.

“The people of Scotland have looked on in horror as we were dragged out of the EU and at the direction the Tory government is taking the UK.

“Westminster is broken beyond repair and mired in corruption and sleaze. Scotland needs rid of it for good, and that can only be achieved through independence.”

In a letter to the PM released on Saturday evening, Lord Frost said that he was “disappointed that this plan has become public this evening and in the circumstances I think it is right for me to write to step down with immediate effect”.

Lord Frost thanked Johnson and said “Brexit is now secure”, but he said: “The challenge for the Government now is to deliver on the opportunities it gives us.

“You know my concerns about the current direction of travel.”