SIR Keir Starmer has called on UK Cabinet ministers to resign as the Chancellor and Health Secretary quit Boris Johnson’s government.
Speaking at Portcullis House, the Labour leader said that Tory Cabinet ministers should stand down “in the national interest” or force Johnson to go.
Just minutes after Starmer made the assertion, Health Secretary Sajid Javid resigned from his post, shortly followed by Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
The Labour leader was taking part in a round table with Scottish journalists when he was asked for his view on the Cabinet, just hours after video emerged of Johnson’s ministerial team looking less than pleased on Tuesday morning.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson ‘forgot’ about Chris Pincher groping claims
The Prime Minister has been under increasing pressure after he claimed he “forgot” previous allegations of inappropriate conduct by Tory deputy whip Chris Pincher.
Asked if Cabinet members should resign, Starmer said: “Yes, they should. It's their responsibility in the national interest to remove him from office. They know what he's like.
“He said he’s psychologically incapable of changing and therefore they have to do what's in the national interest and remove him.”
Starmer was asked again if this meant Cabinet members should quit in protest, to which he said: “They should resign or force him to resign. They have to step up in the national interest now.
“Otherwise they are nodding dogs in this and so I'd say to them directly act in the national interest and resign.”
It comes just as two high-profile members of Johnson’s team, Sunak and Javid, quit their positions in the wake of the Pincher scandal.
Johnson was forced into an embarassing apology over the row and acknowledged he should have sacked the Tory MP after he was told about the allegations.
The incident occured when Pincher was a Foreign Office minister in 2019, but subsequently went on to hold other government roles thanks to Johnson.
Starmer added that Downing Street’s inconsistency and forcing ministers to do media rounds with inaccurate information are the reason the Tory party is “tearing itself apart”.
He said: “What we're seeing this week is a repeat of what we've seen so many times, which is government ministers going out onto the airways, giving answers to questions no sooner they finished the media round but it transpires that the answers they give are not accurate, because the Prime Minister and Number 10 haven't been straight with them.
READ MORE: Justice Secretary Keith Brown's anger over 'snub' by UK ministers
“That is not this week's story. although it is this week's story. It's every week’s story - it's on repeat.
“Which is why you see the Conservative Party tearing itself apart today.”
Speaking specifically about the Pincher scandal, Starmer said that the MP was only the “latest” in numerous cases coming from the Tory party.
He added: “There's a pattern which is the Conservative Party not acting on allegations properly when they first come to their attention again, this is on repeat, I'm afraid. I think the contrast with the Labour Party is clear.
"When I knew that we had problems with our ex MP in Hartlepool I ensured that he not only stepped down from the Labour Party but stepped down as an MP and that's why we had a Hartlepool byelection last year because I took action straight away and made it absolutely clear what I expect within the Labour Party.
The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) July 5, 2022
I recognise this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning.
My letter to the Prime Minister below. pic.twitter.com/vZ1APB1ik1
“The contrast between my response to these issues and the response to the Prime Minister's is absolutely clear and stark.”
Starmer was referring to former Labour MP Mike Hill who was found to have broken Parliament’s misconduct rules.
The Labour leader added that he did believe there was an issue with the culture in Westminster, but insisted that MPs also have to “take responsibility for their actions”.
He added: “They make choices to look at pornography in Parliament, make choices to get completely drunk and act inappropriately and carry out sexual assaults and they need to take responsibility for that.
“I think such suggestion as a culture and no individual responsibility is to allow individuals to pretend that it's not their responsibility, and it is their responsibility to take responsibility and the Prime Minister needs to take responsibility, but he's never taken responsibility for anything in his life, which is why the Cabinet members need to force him out of office.”
READ MORE: Scottish independence: Supreme Court reference reveals Lord Advocate's thoughts
In a statement released after he was informed of Sunak and Javid's resignations, Starmer said: "After all the sleaze, the scandals and the failure, it’s clear that this Government is now collapsing.
"Tory Cabinet ministers have known all along who this Prime Minister is."
He added: "If they had a shred of integrity they would have gone months ago."
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