Johnson staying boosts Putin, says York MP

York Central MP Rachael Maskell has given her reaction to Boris Johnson’s decision to resign as Conservative Party leader while staying on for now as Prime Minister.

The Labour MP says he should quit as PM immediately – partly because him staying discredits war-torn Ukraine. She told David Dunning on YorkMix Radio :

The reason he needs to leave is not just about who deals with the crises as they arise, whether it’s the economic or social crisis we’re seeing across the country, but on a global scale.

We’re living in a troubled world at the moment. With his reputation so damaged, the fact that he’s standing with Zelensky [Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine] is giving Putin a passport in order to exploit and discredit Zelensky.

So on that world stage, the Prime Minister needs insight into the impact that him remaining in office is going to have.