Boris Johnson has been told to resign today after leaked footage emerged to show Downing Street staff joking about a Christmas party they later denied took place.
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford is urging the Prime Minister to step down before Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons this lunchtime if claims about the party last Christmas are true.
In footage obtained by ITV News, the Prime Minister 's then press secretary Allegra Stratton and adviser Ed Oldfield, along with other aides, were filmed joking about a "fictional" Downing Street party in December 2020.
Stratton is seen answering questions at a mock press conference on December 22 about a party the previous Friday - the date of the alleged Covid rule-breaking gathering which is said to have been attended by dozens of colleagues while social mixing indoors was banned in London under Tier 3 restrictions.
Johnson has been slammed from all sides with the SNP calling on him to stand down.
Blackford, MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland: "This is a prime minister that doesn't seem to know the difference between right and wrong.
"It's a prime minister that doesn't seem to know the truth when it hits him in the face.
"I can tell you that, like a lot of other MPs that I've spoken to, we've gotten lots of emails from constituents quite frankly appalled. They did the right thing, they watched loved ones dying in hospital.
"People couldn't celebrate Christmas, couldn't see loved ones, couldn't see their parents, parents couldn't see their children, grandchildren.
"Here we have a prime minister that has ignored his own rules. He needs to recognise that he's lost the trust of the people, that people are quite frankly alarmed.
"There is no question that the Prime Minister should go and he should go today, he should go before Prime Minister's Questions."
The leaked video also showed Oldfield asking Stratton about "reports on Twitter" about the party.
He asked: "I've just seen reports on Twitter that there was a Downing Street Christmas party on Friday night, do you recognise those reports?"
Stratton replied "I went home" before appearing to consider what the correct answer should be.
During the rehearsal, filmed as part of a subsequently-abandoned plan for Stratton to lead televised press briefings, one aide is heard saying: "It wasn't a party, it was cheese and wine."
"Is cheese and wine all right? It was a business meeting," Stratton replied, to laughter in the room.
Stratton then noted "this is recorded", adding: "This fictional party was a business meeting ... and it was not socially distanced."
The Metropolitan Police confirmed officers are reviewing the leaked video in relation to "alleged breaches" of coronavirus regulations.
In response to ITV's report, a Downing Street spokesman said: "There was no Christmas party. Covid rules have been followed at all times."
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