Sturgeon: Johnson using ‘cheap, populist policies’ to distract from scandals

Sturgeon says Johnson of attempting to create populist policies to distract public outrage away from his recent scandals. Johnson has allegedly launched “Operation Red Meat”, which includes plans to scrap the BBC License fee in five years time and to use sonic weapons against small boats in an attempt to send illegal immigrants back into French waters. Government ministers have denied that the policies were created to divert from the Prime Minister’s travails. Sturgeon:

While everybody will have different degrees of criticism of the BBC, to try to jettison the BBC to save his own skin, it’s unedifying. It’s beneath the office of Prime Minister and all it does really is underline this feeling that Boris Johnson is not just himself damaged irreparably, in my view, but he is bit by bit undermining and damaging the institutions of the country and the institutions that support our democracy and that’s why it’s got to stop. A line has to be drawn under this and it’s now up to the Tory Party to decide what’s more important – protecting Boris Johnson or acting in the wider interests of the country…I think there is such a fundamental issue of trust and integrity now around the Prime Minister and the responsible thing for him to do, to allow the focus to be back where it needs to be, would be to resign from office.

Sturgeon also compared her behaviour to Johnsons, climing that she that she would have resigned had the Jamese Hamilton inquiry found any evidence of breaking the ministerial code been found.