Boris pedals into a storm over lockdown bike ride
BORIS Johnson has been accused of undermining his own lockdown rules after it was revealed that he went cycling seven miles from Downing Street for exercise.
The Prime Minister was spotted on his bike at the Olympic Park in east London on Sunday afternoon with his security detail.
Wearing a Transport for London hat and a face mask, he rode around the site in Stratford, east London, at around 2pm.
A few hours after his ride, Mr Johnson held a meeting with Cabinet colleagues to discuss the current lockdown.
Last night, Hammersmith Labour MP Andy Slaughter said: ‘Once again it is do as I say, not as I do, from the Prime Minister. London has some of the highest infection rates in the country. Boris Johnson should be leading by example.’
A source told the Evening Standard that the PM was exercising, adding: ‘But he did note how busy the park was and he commented on it at the meeting last night. He was concerned about if people were following the rules and was concerned after his ride around the park.’
Downing St declined to comment on the journey, and would not clarify whether the PM cycled to the park or was driven there in a vehicle for his bike ride.
Some social media users have pointed out that there are green spaces much closer to the PM’s home in Westminster where he could exercise.
Mr Johnson has made of a point of being seen to exercise since his brush with death after he contracted Covid in March last year.
In a bid to prove he is ‘fit as a butcher’s dog’, he is regularly pictured running in nearby St James’s Park and with celebrity personal trainer Harry Jameson.
He often runs with his dog Dilyn around the Downing St garden.
The PM has also been running in Buckingham Palace grounds after the Queen gave permission, and in Lambeth Palace’s grounds after the Archbishop of Canterbury gave his approval.
The PM’s spokesman was unable to give any information yesterday on why Mr Johnson had gone to Stratford and why it was within the rules. However a Downing Street source told the BBC: ‘The PM has exercised within the Covid rules and any suggestion to the contrary is wrong.’
Mr Johnson has warned he is ready to tighten lockdown further as he voiced fears that vaccines have made people ‘complacent’ about obeying rules.
His warnings come as the NHS teeters on the brink of disaster.