Mark Spencer's claim that people don't care about Downing Street parties branded 'fanciful'

It is an "absolutely fanciful" idea to think that normal people don't care about the alleged lockdown-breaking parties at Downing Street, former Scottish Conservative Party leader Ruth Davidson has said.

Mark Spencer, who was moved from chief whip to new Commons leader in Boris Johnson's mini Cabinet reshuffle, made the claim to BBC Radio Nottingham that people in the "real world" don't care about the partygate controversy surrounding Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

He said people were more worried about energy costs, the NHS backlog and the economy.

In the latest party scandal development, police have indicated they will be contacting more than 50 people believed to have attended alleged events under investigation.

Meanwhile the Met has signalled it is reconsidering the decision not to investigate one event, a Christmas quiz held on December 15, after a photograph emerged of Mr Johnson at the event next to a bottle of champagne.

Partygate is about what normal people had to sacrifice in their own lives, Ruth Davidson tells ITV's Peston

But Ms Davidson rebuked the claim and said the prime minister should have already resigned having told a “known mistruth” about Downing Street parties.

"This is exactly about their lives, because it's what they gave up because they thought they were doing the right thing," Ms Davidson told ITV's Peston.

"They didn't go and visit their mum in the care home, they didn't go and sit by a dying friend or loved one, and they didn't get to go to a funeral of someone they've known their whole life.

"And people feel guilty about the fact they didn't do these things, but they didn't do it for the right reasons."

She continued: "And now they see what they think is the prime minister and the people around him laughing at them and breaking the rules and now they're wondering about the the decisions that they made and that they will have to live with for the rest of their lives.

"I think there's where Downing Street don't understand. This isn't something you can just time out, kick the can down the road and people will forget about it.

"These were massive life events for people. And they will never forget how they felt, how they still feel, about what happened in their own lives."

Asked by ITV News Political Editor Robert Peston if the prime minister should resign if fined by police, she said: "As soon as we found out after he stood up in the House of Commons and said that he was shocked - let me tell you, shocked - that parties had happened in that building that he was not aware of, and we found out that actually he had known about them, he had attended some of them, I think that was the point that he had to go."

Boris Johnson 'should've gone as soon as we found out he had attended some of the lockdown-breaking parties'

The PM's chief secretary to the treasury Simon Clarke was asked on the Peston show on Wednesday evening if he disagrees with Mr Spencer's remarks.

He said: "No, what Mark was saying, and I agree with him on this, is that there are many things which matter much more in the real world, in terms of, for example, the cost of living that we've just been talking about, or dealing with the NHS backlog, or making sure that our country embraces all the opportunities of levelling up…"

Pressed further, he said: "It is my belief that whilst obviously this is an important issue, and it is being treated exceptionally seriously by government, hence we commissioned the Gray report and we are waiting respectfully both for that and for the outcome of the police investigation, it is also the case that we cannot reduce our political debate either domestically given the cost of living issues and the pandemic recovery, or internationally given the situation with Russia and the Ukraine.

"That is the point that Mark was making - so we cannot entirely lose focus on that."

Should Boris Johnson resign if he is fined by police?

Quizzed on whether Mr Johnson should resign as prime minister if he is fined by the police, Mr Clarke said: “The prime minister has been very clear that if there is any action taken against him by the police then he will make that public.

"I'm not going to get drawn on hypotheticals on what he needs to do on any given scenario, which of course has not come to pass."

The chief secretary went on to call chancellor Rishi Sunak's package of support for energy bills and living costs a "very generous intervention".

He explained: "£350, rising to £500 if you're one of the people eligible for the warm home discount, is a very substantial intervention."

Rishi Sunak's support package for rising energy bills and living costs is 'very generous', says Simon Clarke

Challenged about most of it being a loan, he said: "It is a smoothing rebate, designed precisely to reflect the fact that we think what we're going to see with energy prices is a sharp increase in the course of 2022, but then coming down in future years."

Prompted further, he said: "It's not a debt. It's simply changing the way that the profile of these payments come forward. No one is assuming a debt."

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