Tory MPs must do their “patriotic duty” and sack Boris Johnson as prime minister, Sir Ed Davey has said.
Speaking on a visit to the Highlands, the Liberal Democrat leader also revealed he expects Mr Johnson to be issued with further fines over a series of lockdown busting parties in Downing Street.
It is expected MPs will vote next week on whether to investigate if the prime minister misled parliament over his own law breaking.
They will decide whether to hand the matter over to Westminster’s Privileges Committee, which has a Conservative majority but is chaired by a Labour MP.
The committee could order Mr Johnson to make an oral or written apology. He could even be suspended from the House or expelled.
The vote would leave Tory MPs with an awkward choice of whether to back a probe or face accusations of trying to avoid parliamentary scrutiny.
‘Guilty by association’
Speaking while out campaigning at the Port of Ardersier on Thursday, Sir Ed called on Conservative MPs to write to the influential 1922 Committee of backbenchers to trigger a vote of no confidence in the prime minister.
He said: “If they don’t do the decent thing, if Conservative MPs don’t come together, write those letters and get him sacked, then they’re guilty by association.
“Let’s be clear, the whole Conservative Party, if it fails to do what I would call their patriotic duty and get rid of Johnson, then they’re to blame.
“I think that voters will take their revenge.”
Sir Ed criticised the position taken by Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, who withdrew his call for the prime minister to quit in light of the war in Ukraine.
“Even though the prime minister’s now been fined by the police, Douglas Ross still believes that Johnson is a truthful man,” said Sir Ed.
“Well, I have to say I’ve got some magic beans to sell Douglas Ross, if you believe that.
“And I frankly think it’s despicable for Boris Johnson’s allies to use the war in Ukraine to get them out of having to do the right thing.”
Cynical distraction
Mr Johnson is expected to tell colleagues he did not knowingly mislead Parliament when he said at the despatch box all rules were followed.
He was fined this week over a birthday party thrown in his honour in the Cabinet Room in June 2020 at a time when indoor socialising was banned.
Sir Ed described reports of government plans to process some asylum seekers in Rwanda as a “cynical distraction” from the partygate scandal.
He said the scheme would be a “bureaucratic nightmare” costing hundreds of millions of pounds and would not stop people crossing the English Channel.
“They’ve announced this because they’re trying to deflect attention from the prime minister’s lawbreaking,” he said.
“The timing could not be more obvious and no-one’s going to be fooled by this. They’ve brought this in to try to move the story away from the shocking partygate revelations.
“It won’t work and people aren’t going to fall for it.”
Boris Johnson has vowed to “set the record straight” in the Commons next week.
He told reporters in Kent: “You are going to have to wait until I come to Parliament when of course I will set the record straight in any way that I can.”