Police chief calls for PM to deliver ‘moral leadership’
HUNDREDS OF COVID-RELATED REPORTS TO POLICE ON DAY OF PARTY
MORE than 200 Covid-related incidents were reported to Northumbria Police on the day the Prime Minister attended a party in Downing Street, Kim McGuinness has revealed.
This comes after Boris Johnson apologised for a “bring your own booze” party held in the Number 10 garden during the height of lockdown, telling MPs he “believed implicitly that this was a work event.”
The Prime Minister said he understood the public’s “rage” after a leaked email from his principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds, revealed Downing Street staff had been invited to a gathering in May 2020 to “make the most of the lovely weather”.
Mr Johnson confirmed he was present at the event for “25 minutes” to “thank groups of staff.”
At a meeting of the Police and Crime Panel, Ms McGuinness said officers had 229 coronavirusrelated reports that day.
The Police and Crime Commissioner said: “A lot has changed over the last 12 months, with further restrictions and boosters, but throughout we have seen people in the North East do their bit to stop the spread of Covid.
“However, in Downing Street we saw a different story. The PM appears to have broken the law, the very laws he set in place.
“He appears to have attended a party when doing so was illegal, and he should resign.
“To put his actions in to some sort of context, on the day Boris Johnson was breaking the law and partying, Northumbria Police were made aware of 229-Covid related incidents.
“Now, those will have been dealt with on a cases by case basis, and not all will have needed a fine. But we can’t have a situation where it is one rule for the Prime Minister and one rule for the rest of the country.
“We need moral leadership from our Prime Minister, and we are just not seeing it.
“Despite that, in Northumbria we are getting on with the job.”