Midlothian SNP and Conservative politicians condemn Prime Minister for Downing Street Lockdown party

A local Conservative MSP has joined Midlothian’s SNP MP in calling for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign following the latest revelations of a “bring your own booze” party at Downing Street during lockdown.

A leaked email proved 100 people had been invited to a pre-planned social gathering in May 2020 during the first lockdown, with the Prime Minister admitting he was amongst the attendees, but claimed he thought it was within the rules as it was at work.

This sparked anger from local politicians. Midlothian MP Owen Thompson said: “While the rest of us were sticking to the rules and staying apart, they were drinking together and enjoying the ‘lovely weather’.

"It is disrespectful to NHS staff, carers, key workers and to all of us who sacrificed so much to protect our loved ones.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“It is utterly unacceptable that Downing Street staff, under Boris Johnson’s leadership so flagrantly broke the rules the rest of us struggled so hard to follow. The Prime Minister cannot continue to get away with this.”

Scottish Conservative Lothian List MSP Jeremy Balfour agreed. He said: “Boris Johnson has betrayed the trust of the public across the country. He broke the rules he put in place for others to follow and nobody was exempt from that.

“People across Midlothian made enormous sacrifices during the pandemic and I share their anger at these revelations. I fully support the calls from Douglas Ross. The Prime Minister’s position is untenable and he should go now.”

Mr Thompson added: “This latest evidence calls into question all Boris Johnson’s previous denials of knowledge of any parties and means he has deliberately misled parliament, in breach of the Ministerial Code - surely now he must do the decent thing and resign.​​​​​​​”