'Omnibus of Omnishambles': Boris Johnson Facing SNP Motion of Censure in Parliament

Despite BoJo's involvement in a so-called Tory "sleaze" scandal over the Paterson case, a recent YouGov poll put the ruling Conservative Party two points ahead of the opposition Labour Party.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) will table a motion of censure in parliament against Prime Minister Boris Johnson over his "chaotic governance", SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford has revealed.

He told SNP conference delegates that his party would use opposition time in the House of Commons on Tuesday to put forth the motion as he accused Johnson of producing an "omnibus of omnishambles" in his time as prime minister.

Scottish National Party leader in Westminster MP Ian Blackford speaks during the weekly Prime Minister's Questions session in Parliament in London

© REUTERS / UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor

Blackford asserted that unless the prime minister "faces consequences for his disastrous actions, he won't just think he's gotten away with the mess he has made of the last few months - he will think he can do it all over again".

Referring to Johnson's "blunders", the SNP Westminster leader argued that Tory leadership is "bad enough in normal times", but is "unforgivable in the middle of a pandemic".

According to him, Johnson's anecdote about his trip to Peppa Pig World after losing his notes during last week's speech to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference was evidence he is getting "deeper and deeper out of his depth".

"It was previously said that the prime minister's office was no place for a novice. Well, I can tell you it is no place for a negligent either", Blackford said.

He spoke after the SNP tweeted that the motion of censure aims to underscore that Scots have "no confidence" in Johnson's leadership, with the party later clarifying that it will not be a formal motion of no confidence.

This followed Johnson's CBI speech being mocked by Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who dubbed it "shambolic" and said that "no one was laughing, because the joke's not funny anymore".

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, for his part, lamented the fact that while "businesses are crying out for clarity", all they got was "Boris Johnson rambling on about Peppa Pig".

The PM previously tried to defend his record, pointing to employment figures and the successful rollout of the nation's vaccine programme.

He told MPs last week that the government is "delivering for the working people of this country, […] fixing the problems that they thought could never be fixed, and [….] doing things that they thought were impossible".

"There are now more people in work in this country than there were before the pandemic began. That is because of policies that this government has followed", Johnson claimed.

The remarks followed the so-called Tory "sleaze" row earlier this month, when the prime minister was accused of corruption after he finally scrapped plans to stop Conservative lawmaker Owen Paterson being suspended from parliament for lobbying on behalf of companies that had paid him more than £500,000 ($682,882).