Covid: Families' anger over PM's lockdown party fine
- Published
The family of Lily McCallum are among those criticising the prime minister over the Downing Street gatherings
Boris Johnson has been accused of lying to families who lost loved ones during the Covid pandemic.
The prime minister, his wife and the chancellor have been fined by police for breaking lockdown rules in Downing Street in June 2020.
They received fixed penalties for attending a birthday party for the PM and have apologised.
Mr Johnson's refusal to resign has sparked anger among people unable to be with family members when they died.
He has said that he accepted "in all sincerity that people had the right to expect better" from him.
Suzanne McCallum lost her mother Lily, from Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire, in April 2020.
She was 86 and had been living in a care home when she became seriously ill.
Her daughter Suzanne said Mr Johnson's actions were "an absolute slap in the face" and called on him to resign.
She told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme her mother's funeral was "horrific", with fewer than 15 mourners.
"I had to stand on my own, get there on my own, go home on my own to an empty house," she said.
"I had no family to come round to support me, nobody could give me a hug at the funeral.
"You're falling apart, your world's just ended, and nobody can even comfort you."
She said she was "absolutely disgusted" by the reports of parties at Downing Street during lockdown. "So much anger, so upset," she added.
"We followed all the rules. I've lost my mum - she meant the world to me - and they can't even follow the rules that they set out.
"They're not above anybody else - they are the same and they should have followed their own rules. They shouldn't be allowed to stay.
"He (Mr Johnson) is a bumbling idiot and just a liar. They have lied to all of us."
Johnson: I fell short in observing the rules
Downing Street has confirmed Mr Johnson's fine was in relation to an event he attended on 19 June 2020 to celebrate his birthday.
His wife Carrie Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak were also reported to have been at the gathering, with an ITV report saying the prime minister had been presented with a cake while people sang Happy Birthday to him.
The fines are among more than 50 to have been handed out so far by officers from the Met, who have been investigating alleged Covid law-breaking at 12 gatherings in Whitehall and Downing Street during lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.
Mr Johnson has said the event was "brief" and lasted "less than 10 minutes".
"In all frankness, at that time it did not occur to me that this might have been a breach of the rules," he added. "But, of course, the police have found otherwise and I fully respect the outcome of their investigation."
He is the first serving prime minister of the UK to be sanctioned for breaking the law.
Reports of parties being held in Downing Street during lockdowns first emerged in December last year, with Mr Johnson initially insisting in the Commons that "guidelines were followed at all times".
Mr Sunak also told the Commons: "I did not attend any parties."
Only 20 people were allowed to attend John Connelly's funeral after he died aged 104
Carolyn Murdoch, who along with Suzanne McCallum is part of the Covid 19 Families group, said she was "disgusted" by Mr Johnson's actions.
She told Good Morning Scotland: "Everyone saw him lying on television, saying that guidelines had been followed.
"No, we followed the guidelines when we lost our loved ones and he didn't.
"He had people at a birthday party with a birthday cake and I had 15 minutes with my father as he died.
"Are you trying to tell me that he didn't understand there was a rule being broken there? I don't believe it."
Carolyn's father John Connelly died in April 2020 aged 104.
He had lived with her for more than 20 years until his dementia worsened and he had to move into a care home.
'Living with guilt'
Only 20 people were allowed to attend John's funeral in Glasgow.
Carolyn said: "It was surreal. I couldn't cuddle my son because he didn't live with me.
"But all the time we thought we were keeping each other safe.
"I live with guilt every day. So many people are living like this and we won't get over it.
"Lockdown impacted on everyone's life, but when you lost someone during that time, it's very difficult to listen to this nonsense that we are being told."
She added: "Boris Johnson has never seriously genuinely apologised and there's no way he didn't know what was going on.
"We all had to suffer not being with family and friends. Restrictions were in place but just not for Boris and his pals.
"It's so hard to swallow."
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