Douglas Ross should be told by Boris Johnson to resign as an MP and have a by-election on the same day as he standing for the Scottish parliament, Ian Blackford has demanded.
The SNP Westminster leader called on the Prime Minister to tell the Scottish Tory leader to stand down in his Moray seat if he is standing for Holyrood in May.
At Prime Minister’s Questions the SNP leader launched a full-out election attack on Ross and stand-in leader Ruth Davidson, quoting the front page of the Daily Record showing the pair as “Dumb and Dumber”.
Blackford said: “We know that Tory leaders in Scotland have a habit of dodging democracy. Baroness Davidson is fleeing to the House of Lords, and from the Tory leader is too feart to stand in a constituency.
“No wonder this morning Daily Record declared that the Scottish Tories have exposed themselves as shameless as nasty, and just plain daft.”
“They are led by a man so devoid of imagination, that when asked what he would do if he was Prime Minister for a day, He replied, I would like to see tougher enforcement against gypsy travellers.”
“Does the Prime Minister, really have confidence in a Scottish Tory leader who doesn’t even have the courage to put himself before the voters in a Scottish constituency?”
Blackford called on Ross to “do the right thing” and stand down as an MP and have an by-election on the same day as the Scottish parliament elections on May 6th, saving £175,000 for the public purse.
Despite being top of the Conservatives’ regional Holyrood list for the Highlands and Islands, Ross is not giving up his Westminster seat which he won from former SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson in 2015.
Blackford said: "As his boss, will the Prime Minister order the member for Moray to resign his seat, avoid a dual mandate, and save the taxpayer £175,000 pounds, or are dual mandates one more Tory policy where they think greed is good?”
Johnson hit back the SNP was “so devoid of imagination” that all they could talk about is a referendum to break up the United Kingdom.
But the PM noted, with an election coming up and support for independence slipping, “maybe he’s getting nervous about singing that song”.
