DOUGLAS Ross has been told to “salvage any remnant of self-respect" and again call on Boris Johnson to quit over the Sue Gray report into the partygate scandal.
Ms Gray found that Mr Johnson and his staff repeatedly held gatherings in No.10 during the pandemic, despite it being against the laws set by the UK Government.
She added that senior leaders “must bear responsibility for this culture” which allowed this to happen.
When the Prime Minister’s involvement in partygate first emerged, Mr Ross called for him to resign. But he performed a U-turn on his position days before Mr Johnson was due to appear at the Scottish Conservative conference – pointing to the importance of his leadership amid the war in Ukraine.
Earlier this week, when photographs emerged of the Prime Minister holding a drink at one lockdown-breaking event, Mr Ross stressed an explanation was required.
He said: “These images will rightly make people across the country very angry.
“The Prime Minister must outline why he believes this behaviour was acceptable. To most, these pictures seem unjustifiable and wrong.”
Former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said some of the findings in Ms Gray's report were “grim”.
Following the release of the full report, opponents have now called on the Scottish Conservative leader to re-submit his letter to the 1922 Committee.
Tory MSPs Alexander Stewart, Maurice Golden and Brian Whittle have already called for the PM to resign – with the SNP claiming Mr Ross is “at risk of losing authority within his own party”.
SNP MSP Graeme Dey said: “Douglas Ross is completely out of excuses – he must resubmit his letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson.
“As has been confirmed by the Sue Gray report, the Prime Minister broke the law, lied to the House of Commons and lied to the public.
“The Scottish Tory leader is also at risk of losing authority within his own party - as Tory MSPs defy his leadership to call for the resignation of Boris Johnson.”
He added: “The Tories should be focussing on tackling the cost of living crisis they have created, but instead they are distracted by in-fighting about their bosses at Westminster.
“Boris Johnson’s actions are disgraceful, either Tory MPs should remove him, or he should do the decent thing, for once, and resign.
"If Douglas Ross has a shred of credibility left, he will agree that the Prime Minister’s time is up, and he will call for his resignation.”
Greens MSP Gillian Mackay said: “This report is damning and lays bare the utter contempt the Prime Minister has for the general public.
“At a time when people across the UK were making unbelievable sacrifices, Boris Johnson and his entourage were living it up, breaking the rules, and laughing about it, time after time.
“For those of us who lost a loved one during the pandemic this is no laughing matter.
“The Prime Minister’s behaviour is bad enough on its own. But, his constant and repeated lying, to parliament and the public, cannot be tolerated.
“Boris Johnson must be held to account for this appalling behaviour. He can no longer remain in post.
“If Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross wishes to salvage any remnant of self-respect, he must end his pathetic equivocation and resubmit his letter calling for Johnson to go.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: "This report lays out in black and white the culture of rule-breaking and lawbreaking presided over by the Prime Minister. He made the laws, broke them and then lied about it to the British public.
"This is also a defining moment for Douglas Ross in his leadership of the Scottish Conservatives. I have spoken to members of his party and Conservative voters who are shocked that he is still standing by a Prime Minister who is only out for himself. He needs to grow a backbone and submit his letter of no confidence.
"Every household in Britain faces eye-watering costs at the petrol pumps, sky-rocketing food prices and massive energy bills. It needs new hope and new leadership."
The Scottish Conservatives have been contacted for comment.
UK Government Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: "I understand that people are angry about what happened in Downing Street. “The Prime Minister has apologised again today, and made clear that he takes full responsibility for what went on in No 10. Lessons have been learned and changes have been made within No 10.
"The Prime Minister has my full support. He is tackling the rising cost of living at home and leading the international response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Now, we all need to get behind him and back him in dealing with these important issues."
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