Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has revealed he tried to prevent Douglas Ross from calling for the Prime Minister to stand down from his role.
The MP for Dumfries and Galloway said he also rejected an accusation that the Scottish Tory leader is a “lightweight figure”.
Jack, a friend of Boris Johnson, attempted to broker a truce between the Scottish party and the Tory cabinet after Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg dismissed Douglas Ross on Wednesday evening and again on Thursday.
Speaking to Radio Forth News, Jack said he had made a plea to Douglas Ross to hold back his resignation call until, as the Prime Minister asked, a investigation by Sue Gray into the Downing Street party during the first lockdown in May 2020 was complete.
Jack said: “Over the last 48 hours, I have, in a number of conversations with Douglas, asked him to wait until Sue Gray reports.
“She’s a serious figure, she’s producing a report, my view is we wait until we see the report before we draw any conclusions."
The Scottish Secretary tried to defuse the comments made by Jacob Rees-Mogg who said Ross was a "lightweight" and told the Commons on Thursday that he ought to have been more loyal to the Prime Minister.
Jack said: "I would say that Douglas is far from a lightweight. He’s a very serious politician, he’s a very good adversary for Nicola Sturgeon … Douglas is a very serious and should be a well-respected politician.”
Speaking after First Minister's Questions in Holyrood today Douglas Ross batted away the criticism from Rees-Mogg.
He said: "Jacob Rees-Mogg is entitled to his opinion and I'm entitled to disagree with him.
"I'm not going to get into personal attacks."
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