Nigel Farage has hit back at claims that Prime Minister Boris Johnson can’t resign during the war on Ukraine following the Partygate probe.
It was announced on Tuesday that the Metropolitan Police intend to issue both Mr Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak with fixed penalty notices over breaches of Covid-19 laws in relation to lockdown parties.
Speaking exclusively to GB News, Nigel said: “A lot of MPs said they would put letters of no confidence in if the Prime Minister was to be found guilty having told the House of Commons repeatedly rules were always followed.
“The argument is that he can’t leave now while the war in Ukraine is going on, but you know what, Winston Churchill went in July 1945 when we were fighting the Japanese.
Nigel Farage
GB News
"Let’s see where it goes.
“And poor old Rishi, fancy being fined for being at a booze-up when you’re a tee-totaller.”
The former Brexit Party leader's comments come after several Tory MPs urged Mr Johnson not to step down amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Tory MP Sir Roger Gale said: “It’s serious of course. My position remains that the fact that the Prime Minister has effectively misled the House of Commons is a very serious issue indeed, but we are in the middle of an international crisis and I am not prepared to give Vladimir Putin the comfort of thinking that we are about to unseat the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and destabilise the coalition against Putin.
Tory MPs have urged Boris Johnson not to resign during the Ukraine war
Ben Stansall
“So any reaction to this is going to have to wait until we have dealt with the main crisis which is Ukraine and the Donbas.”
He continued: “The Prime Minister has said categorically no rules were broken and nothing untoward took place. That is patently wrong and he now has to acknowledge that it’s wrong. And he will have to decide I think where that leaves him in his relationship with Parliament.
“My main concern is that we don’t rock the boat and give Putin the comfort of thinking that the alliance, the NATO alliance particularly, but the coalition that’s been put together to sanction Putin and all his works, is unstable. That’s absolutely of paramount importance.”
Scottish Conservative Leader Douglas Ross added: "The public are rightly furious at what happened in Downing Street during the pandemic. 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."
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon are among those who have already called for the PM to resign.