Conservative MSP revolt forces Carlaw into U-turn over Cummings
Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw was forced into a U-turn over his stance on whether Dominic Cummings should remain as a special advisor to the Prime Minister after a revolt within his MSP group yesterday following the resignation of a Scots government minister.
Mr Carlaw capitulated to the demands of his shadow cabinet, but stopped short of condemning Mr Cummings actions and said only that he should “consider his position”.
Previously he had said the matter was one for Boris Johnson to decide, but yesterday he said the row around Mr Cummings was now “a distraction” in the government’s fight against coronavirus.
He spoke out after the resignation of Scottish MP Douglas Ross, who quit as a junior government minister following the confusion surrounding Dominic Cummings’ lockdown trips to Durham, saying he was “troubled” by the events.
Adam Tomkins, a member of the Tories’ frontbench team at Holyrood, added to the pressure on Mr Carlaw when he backed Mr Ross’s decision to quit and suggested other resignations may follow. Other Tory MSPS, including Donald Cameron, Murdo Fraser and
Liz Smith, all also said they believed Mr Cummings should go, after being inundated with complaints from constituents.
Yesterday Mr Carlaw paid tribute to Douglas Ross, and said he understood why he had decided to leave his government post.
He defended his previous statement on the issue, saying he had tried to come to a view on the row “in the absence of the facts” but since Mr Cummings statement in the No10 Rose Garden on Monday that had changed.
He said: “I think the reality is this is now consuming the entire debate, distracting away from the principal message and the virus and if I were in his position, if it were me, I would be considering my position.”
Asked if the Prime Minister should sack Mr Cummings, he said: “I’m not going to issue instructions to the Prime Minister. It is absolutely a matter for the Prime Minister himself who serves him and for how long they serve but given the furore, given the distraction we are now in, given the distraction to the Prime Minister on this issue, if I were Mr Cummings I would be considering my position.
“It is a distraction for the Prime Minister, I think it is diluting the message, I think all across the country the focus has to be on tackling the virus. Here in Scotland my job as opposition leader is to hold the Scottish Government to account, to point out wherethereareshortcomings, not for the sake of that, but to ensure that we then get the right policy in place.
“That’s what my energy and attention should be on. We want to see the whole country defeat this virus and we can’t do it if the debate is being distracted by other things.” He said he had made his “view clear to Downing Street.” Howevermrcarlawalsosaidhehad found Mr Cummings’ explanation of his trip to Durham “quite sincere and heartfelt.”
“I’m saying that I have heard his version of events. Some people will have found them credible, other people… I think that his position as he articulated it was an understandable one but there clearly is a concern that irrespective of whether or not he acted legally or otherwise, people have to know that everybody is acting without fear or favour with respect to obeying the rules.”
Pushed on whether he believed Mr Cummings should go to prevent damage to the government, rather than because he had broken lockdown, Mr Carlaw said: “No, I haven’t said that at all. I absolutely understand that point. I understand that all of my colleagues, absolutely everybody is making huge sacrifices. I think that was the point Douglas Ross quite fairly made.”
Jackson Carlaw’s credibility has been holed below waterline by Dominic Cummings