Douglas Ross has been branded “pathetic” by Keir Starmer as he turned fire on Boris Johnson “a man without shame” for excusing himself lockdown breaches in Downing Street.
Starmer turned fire on the leader of the Scottish Tories for first demanding that the Prime Minister resign when his illegal activities were revealed and then turning turtle to defend the PM weeks later when he was fined by the police.
The Labour leader described the Johnson’s “mealy mouthed apology” in the Commons over the lockdown fines as “a joke” and said the damage had been done.
He added: “The public has made up their mind. They don’t believe a word the Prime Minister says, they know what he is.”
Starmer continued: “Those close to him find themselves ruined. Good ministers forced to walk away from public service, and the leader of the Scottish Conservatives rendered pathetic.”
“This isn’t a glitch. This is what he does, this is who he is. He knows he is dishonest so he drags people down with him.”
Ian Blackford, the SNP leader, held back from branding Johnson a liar, which he has done in the past in breach of Commons conventions.
Instead the SNP Westminster leader said: “By now, people know that the rules of this House prevent me from saying that the Prime Minister has deliberately and wilfully misled us.”
“But maybe today that does not matters because the public knows the difference between the truth and a lie.”
“They know that the Prime Minister is only apologising for one reason and one reason only. It’s the only reason he ever apologises – because he’s been caught.”
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, Ian Murray MP picked up on Starmer’s reference to Ross and converted it into a council election campaign message.
He said: “Douglas Ross has been left utterly humiliated – defending liars and criminals.”
“The idea that Douglas Ross can stand up to the SNP is simply laughable – he can’t even stand up to his own leader when he’s found to have broken the law.”
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