Boris Johnson has been accused of hiding behind the skirt of Ukraine to save his own skin after being fined in the Partygate probe.
Speaking on the Clash on Dan Wootton tonight, broadcaster and author Nina Myskow hit out at the Prime Minister and said he needed to go as soon as.
She told us: "The fish rots from the head down and to hide behind Ukraine's skirt, tp use Ukraine as a political means of saving his own skin is despicable.
Boris Johnson’s battle to remain in power has been hit by the resignation of a justice minister, who warned the scale and nature of breaches of coronavirus rules in Downing Street are inconsistent with the rule of law.
Conservative peer David Wolfson said he had “no option” other than to resign on Wednesday over the “repeated rule-breaking, and breach of the criminal law, in Downing Street”.
Dan Wootton's panel
GB News
The fallout after police fined the Prime Minister and Chancellor Rishi Sunak over a birthday party held for Mr Johnson in No 10 during Covid restrictions in June 2020 was continuing with further calls to quit.
Conservative MPs Nigel Mills and Craig Whittaker said the Prime Minister’s position was untenable after he was found to have broken the rules he set.
However, Mr Johnson’s position was safe for the time being, with politicians away from Parliament for the Easter recess and numerous Tory critics arguing for immediate focus to be on the invasion of Ukraine.
Lord Wolfson, a justice minister since 2020, said in his resignation letter to Mr Johnson that he has come to the “inevitable conclusion that there was repeated rule-breaking, and breaches of the criminal law, in Downing Street”.
Lord Wolfson
PA
He concluded that had no option but to resign considering “my ministerial and professional obligations to support and uphold the rule of law”.
The decision heaped pressure on Dominic Raab, whose Labour shadow Steve Reed pointed out as Justice Secretary is “constitutionally charged with upholding the law but is instead condoning law-breaking” by backing Mr Johnson.
Mr Raab described Lord Wolfson as a “world-class lawyer” whose “wisdom and intellect will be sorely missed” in Government.
Mr Johnson wrote to the peer saying he was “sorry to receive” the resignation, while praising his “years of legal experience”.
Earlier, Mr Mills became the first Tory backbencher to publicly call for Mr Johnson to fall on his sword since the fines landed.
The MP for Amber Valley, in Derbyshire, told the PA news agency Mr Johnson’s position was untenable, saying: “Yeah, I think for a Prime Minister in office to be given a fine and accept it and pay it for breaking the laws that he introduced… is just an impossible position.
“We have every right to expect higher standards of people making these laws… so the idea that he can survive having broken one and accepted he has broken (it), I just think is impossible.”
Mr Whittaker, the MP for West Yorkshire constituency of Calder Valley, called for both the Prime Minister and Mr Sunak to resign in response to questions from voters.
“To be very clear, my personal opinion is that he and the Chancellor both should resign because you can’t set the laws and then break them as they have,” he said in a Facebook video.
But Mr Whittaker said he would not be submitting a letter to the 1922 Committee of backbench Tories, saying he expects the Prime Minister would win the vote which he argued would distract the Ukraine and cost-of-living crises.
Both Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak have indicated they would consider resigning over the fixed penalty notices issued by Scotland Yard.
Welsh Secretary Simon Hart indicated the Prime Minister would not resign even if he was fined multiple times in the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Hillman probe.
Mr Johnson has not ruled out the prospect he could be fined again for further events, reportedly having attended six of the 12 under investigation.