SNP demand Boris Johnson resigns over lockdown remarks

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford in the House of Commons. - Credit: Parliament TV

The SNP is demanding that Boris Johnson should resign if reports he said he would rather see “bodies pile high in their thousands” than have a third English lockdown are true.

Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, said Johnson had a “duty to resign” and called for the PM to address the reports in parliament and face questions on the matter.

Downing Street has denied the remarks, first published in the Daily Mail, insisting it was “just another lie”.

Blackford said: “These comments are utterly abhorrent. If they are true, Boris Johnson has a duty to resign. The prime minister must now come to parliament to give a statement, and face questioning, on these shocking claims and the growing Tory sleaze scandal engulfing Westminster.

“The public have a right to know what is going on, and why the Tory government has been handing out multi-million pound contracts, special access, tax breaks and peerages to Tory donors and friends.

“The difficulty for Boris Johnson is he has lied so many times it’s impossible for anyone to trust a word he says. A full independent public inquiry is the only way to provide transparency and accountability. Those responsible must be held to account.”