Anger as PM ‘flouts Covid rules’ at reception as he watched football
COUPLES AND wedding industry professionals have reacted with anger at images of the Prime Minister enjoying a standing reception during the England v Germany match.
Boris Johnson was pictured watching the game, which was shown during a reception to mark Pride month at 10, Downing Street.
Under current wedding guidance, standing receptions – which traditionally take place before a formal wedding breakfast – cannot take place.
Couples and their guests must be seated for all parts of the reception, and masks worn when not eating or drinking.
The rules are not set to change until July 19, when legal restrictions are set to lift in the delayed Step Four of the Prime Minister’s roadmap out of coronavirus lockdown.
Restrictions on numbers at weddings were lifted last month and it is now for individual venues to decide how many guests can congregate safely.
But many of the traditional elements of wedding day, including singing hymns during the ceremony and having a disco, are still restricted – although couples can still enjoy a first dance together.
A campaign led by Whitby based wedding blogger Annabel Beeforth has long called for the guidance to be relaxed if the £4bn wedding industry isn’t to collapse.
On Tuesday night, hundreds of campaigners took to social media to criticise Mr Johnson, using the hashtag #whataboutweddings.
The campaign’s official Twitter account tweeted: “We see you Boris Johnson. We see you making the rules and flouting them when it suits you. We see your list of priorities and see what you value. We see you behaving like you’re above the rules.”
Bride-to-be Emma Freeman, who has postponed her wedding three times, wrote: “Boris Johnson, can you tell us why this is good enough for you but not for our weddings?”
It follows campaigners criticising attendees of the G7 summit last month, who gathered for a beach barbecue.
The Prime Minister’s office at Number 10 Downing Street was approached for comment.