DOUGLAS Ross has refused to say whether he will support Boris Johnson into the next General Election as he squirmed through an interview on Sky News.
The Scottish Tory leader said he “wasn’t getting into any hypotheticals” before being reminded that a General Election would almost certainly happen at some point in the future.
READ MORE: Douglas Ross refuses to call on Boris Johnson to quit over Met partygate fine
Once pressed on the matter, Ross said: “What I’m saying is that at the moment, when we are dealing with this ongoing crisis, the focus has to be on that because the only person who benefits from any destabilisation here in the UK is Vladimir Putin and I don’t want to do anything to benefit a war criminal like Putin.”
As he continually dodged the issue, Ross was pushed to answer the “simple question” again.
He continued: “Well we don’t know where we will be in a couple of years time when the next General Election is due. I’m looking at the situation right now. I'm looking at where we were a few months ago when I previously spoke out against the PM and I’m looking at where we are right now things change a lot in a very short period of time.”
Ross previously called for Boris Johnson to resign over his role in the partygate scandal and wrote a letter to the 1922 committee to that end.
However, following the invasion of Ukraine, Ross has U-turned on his position, claiming that "it is right that [Boris Johnson] remain in post while this war is ongoing".
Following news of the fines issued to Johnson on Tuesday, Ross said JOhnson's removal would “destabilise” the country as it tries to deal with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
READ MORE: House of Commons should be recalled so Johnson and Sunak can resign
The Tory MP said he shared the “fury” felt by the electorate at the breaches.
“The public are rightly furious at what happened in Downing Street during the pandemic,” he said in a statement.
“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.”
But Ross’s view was not shared by former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson – who was appointed to the House of Lords by the Prime Minister.
On Twitter, she said: “Met confirms what we already knew: the PM introduced liberty-curtailing rules for public health reasons.
“This caused huge hardship for those separated from ill or dying loved ones.
“He then broke the rules he imposed on the country & lost the moral authority to lead.
“He should go.”
Ross and Davidson are due to hit the campaign trail together on Wednesday, ahead of the May council elections.
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