Fabricant says sorry for lockdown drinks claim

Michael Fabricant has apologised for suggesting many teachers and nurses enjoyed a “quiet drink” in staff rooms during lockdown.

In a BBC interview defending the Prime Minister over Downing Street parties, the Conservative MP for Lichfield said: “He thought [he was behaving] like many teachers and nurses who after a very long shift would go back to the staff room and have a quiet drink.” Mr Fabricant has now written to headteachers to say he had not intended to “cause offence” or “demoralise”, “and I apologise if I have genuinely done so”.