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by Louise Wilson
21 April 2022
Scottish Tories urged to back inquiry into whether Boris Johnson misled parliament

Scottish Tories urged to back inquiry into whether Boris Johnson misled parliament

Douglas Ross and other Scottish Tory MPs have been urged to back a move to refer the Prime Minister to the Common’s Privileges Committee over the Downing Street parties.

Keir Starmer has tabled a motion to instruct the cross-party committee to hold an inquiry into whether Boris Johnson misled parliament.

MPs will vote on the proposal on Thursday.

The Scottish Tory leader has previously said he would not be attending the debate as he will be at Holyrood for First Minister’s Questions and thereafter campaigning for local government elections.

But the SNP has urged Ross to take part in the vote.

The party’s deputy leader at Westminster, Kirsten Oswald, said: “Ross has gone from running the line to running scared – attempting to dodge holding this law-breaking Prime Minister to account.

“Ross, along with the Scottish Tory MPs, must finally find a backbone, do the right thing and put the interests of the country ahead of the narrow interests of the Tory party.”

The Prime Minister – who will be in India while the debate takes place – is expected to survive the vote as Tory backbenchers rally around him.

However, it will force MPs who have so far remained quiet on the matter to take a public stance.

Speaking ahead of the debate, Starmer said: “We are urging Conservative MPs to do the right thing, to respect the sacrifices that their constituents made during the pandemic, to say that the public were right to follow the rules, and to vote in the national interest not under pressure from the party whips.”

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has written to the 12 other Conservative MPs who represent Scottish constituencies, excluding Ross, to ask that they support the motion.

He said: “It has long been clear that in the case of Boris Johnson that personal gain trumps his broader responsibilities at every turn.

“What is perhaps more disappointing is that Douglas Ross appears to have made the same choice, abstaining out of political ambition rather than acting to protect our United Kingdom.

“On Thursday, you and other Tory MPs have a choice – you can act in the interest of your personal ambitions or in the interests of preserving the UK.”

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack reiterated his support for the Prime Minister on Tuesday. He said Johnson had “made a heartfelt apology for inadvertently breaching the rules” and was otherwise “demonstrating the strong and decisive leadership we need”.

The Privileges Committee is able to recommend sanctions against MPs, including suspension and expulsion, if they are found to have broken parliamentary rules.

But any recommended punishment would have to be accepted or rejected by the Commons as a whole.

Chair Chris Bryant, a Labour MP, has already recused himself from any inquiry into whether the Prime Minister deliberately misled parliament, following concerns that he had previously been vocally critical of Johnson.

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