A report published today catalogues a series of “difficult to justify” social gatherings in Downing Street.
Nursing staff and other healthcare workers risked their lives during the pandemic while Ministers and senior civil servants partied in Downing Street.
A damming report published today by senior civil servant Sue Gray catalogues a series of “difficult to justify” social gatherings in Downing Street.
According to the document, a significant number of gatherings occurred between May 2020 and April 2021 involving both senior MPs and civil servants while the rest of the UK was in lockdown or under tiered restrictions.
During the same period, nursing staff and other healthcare workers struggled with being away from their families and working with either inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE) or lacking guidance.
Hundreds of health and social care workers are also known to have lost their lives to Covid-19 during the height of the pandemic.
A serious failure.
The report concludes, “Against the backdrop of the pandemic, when the Government was asking citizens to accept far-reaching restrictions on their lives, some of the behaviour surrounding these gatherings is difficult to justify.”
“At least some of the gatherings in question represent a serious failure to observe not just the high standards expected of those working at the heart of Government but also of the standards expected of the entire British population at the time.
“At times it seems there was too little thought given to what was happening across the country in considering the appropriateness of some of these gatherings, the risks they presented to public health and how they might appear to the public.”
Nurses have expressed their upset about the actions of those in Downing Street on social media, given the challenges they were facing at the time.
They partied and lied about it.
Matt Tacey, a registered nurse & Nurses United Member, “For many of us, we continued to go in to work, placing ourselves and our immediate families at risk trying tirelessly to save those infected by COVID. We fought and fought, unprotected and without PPE or a very poor standard of PPE. Whilst we fought, and lost in some circumstances, this Government partied. They partied and lied about it.”
“This reinforces feelings of being undervalued and forgotten about during the course of the pandemic. Those empty platitudes from ministers mean absolutely nothing to us and we can all see them for what they are, empty.
“How can we ever regain trust in this Government that broke their own laws, lied about it and refuse to take responsibility, even after being found guilty.
“Healthcare professionals lost their lives during the pandemic. This Government partied while we said goodbye and mourned our colleagues.”
