Several Conservative MPs who called for the prime minister to resign over Covid rule-breaking, even prior to today’s admission that he has been fined, have backtracked.

North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale told Sky News this afternoon that it was the wrong time to “unseat” Johnson, arguing that“… any reaction to this is going to have to wait until we have dealt with the main crisis which is Ukraine and the Donbas.”

However he did say he expected Johnson to step down prior to the next general election.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has echoed Gale’s comments, stressing that he thought “it wouldn’t be right to remove the prime minister at this time”.

“The public are rightly furious at what happened in Downing Street during the pandemic. I understand why they are angry and share their fury. The behaviour was unacceptable. The Prime Minister now needs to respond to these fines being issued.

“However, as I’ve made very clear, in the middle of war in Europe, when Vladimir Putin is committing war crimes and the UK is Ukraine’s biggest ally, as President Zelensky said at the weekend, it wouldn’t be right to remove the Prime Minister at this time

“It would destabilise the UK Government when we need to be united in the face of Russian aggression and the murdering of innocent Ukrainians.”