Carmichael calls for Boris to go

Shetland’s MP has joined those calling for Boris Johnson to step down as Prime Minister.

Alistair Carmichael has written to Scottish Conservative MPs calling on them to oust the PM in a vote of no confidence.

The ballot was triggered today [Monday] after more than 15 per cent of Tory MPs submitted letters of no confidence in Mr Johnson.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross MP has repeatedly changed positions on Boris Johnson’s leadership, submitting and then withdrawing his letter of no confidence in past months.

Mr Johnson’s premiership has been dogged by controversy following, in particular, the Party-gate affair.

If Mr Johnson loses tonight’s vote, he will be forced to stand down as Prime Minister.

But at least 180 Conservative MPs – a majority – will have to vote against the PM in order for him to leave Number 10.

And most cabinet members have said they will support him.

In his letter, Mr Carmichael said: “Whether through day-to-day complacency and disinterest, or active belligerence as we have seen all too often, Boris Johnson has been corrosive to the links between the communities which make up the United Kingdom.

“Boris Johnson’s Brexit nationalism has been a gift to the SNP and others, allowing them to escape meaningful scrutiny for their own myriad failures.

“Above all he has undermined the constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom by attacking checks and balances to executive power.

“The rewriting of the ministerial code and the brazen disregard for his own rule breaking are just the latest examples of this approach, which has created the impression of a government that has lost sight of its constitutional bounds.”