Man from Leeds who wasn't able to see his dying grandad angry at reports of Downing Street parties
The restrictions in place at the time meant people were banned from meeting any more than one person they didn't live with outside
Last updated 12th Jan 2022
A man from Leeds, who wasn't able to see his grandad when he was dying, says he's angry at reports of a Downing Street Party in May.
In England, we had been in lockdown for 58 days when Downing Street staff allegedly gathered for "socially distanced drinks" on May 20th 2020 in the Number 10 garden.
Boris Johnson's principal private secretary Martin Reynolds invited more than 100 government employees to "make the most of the lovely weather" and "bring your own booze".
Around 40 are thought to have attended the event.
The restrictions in place at the time meant people were banned from meeting any more than one person they didn't live with outside.
"His funeral took place on 18th May with just 6 of us outside the crematorium. Not the send off a man who served his country, and lost his brother in the war deserved."
We've been speaking to a man from Leeds, who didn't get to see his dying Grandad, because he was sticking to the rules.
He said:
"My grandad was my hero when I was growing up. It seemed to me like there was nothing he couldn't do. It was a joy to me when I grew up and had kids of my own to see the smile they put on his face.
"He was in a care home when the pandemic hit, so the last time we saw him was on his 95th birthday in March 2020.
"He became ill towards the end of April and passed away at the start of May.
"To subsequently find out Number 10 were sending emails arranging parties just 2 days later is horrific and pretty disgusting."
"Because of the restrictions none of my family could go to see him before he died, so we wrote emails that the staff kindly read to him."
He continued:
"His funeral took place on 18th May with just 6 of us outside the crematorium. Not the send off a man who served his country, and lost his brother in the war deserved. I was unable to even hug my parents to comfort them because of the rules that were in place at the time."
We spoke to him about his reaction to reports that Number 10 had a party, just 2 days after the funeral:
"To subsequently find out Number 10 were sending emails arranging parties just 2 days later is horrific and pretty disgusting. These people are elected to lead, and I'm afraid a very important part of leadership is setting an example. It is now patently transparent that they believe the rules they were forcing upon us were not for them to follow.
"To see excerpts from the email invite saying they were "making the most of the good weather" is sickening. There is also a tone to that invite which implies those on the distribution list have had a hard week and somehow deserve this. Well not compared to the front line NHS workers who were working all hours actually dealing with the awful effects of the pandemic, or the care workers who kindly looked after my Grandad in his final days, or the families like ours who lost a treasured relative that they couldn't say goodbye to, or give a deserved send off.
"The whole thing smacks of self-entitlement and no matter what attempted justification they come up with in the next few days nothing will convince me that they basically just don't believe they were too important to follow the rules."