Boris Johnson owes the nation an apology, say Covid bereaved

Boris Johnson owes the nation an apology for breaking the rules so he could have a party while families “were saying goodbye to loved ones over Zoom”, bereaved relatives have said after the publication of the Privileges Committee report.

The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK group said the former prime minister had “shown no remorse” and should not stand for office again.

Leshie Chandrapala, who lost her father Ranjith in 2020, said Mr Johnson “should take responsibility”.

She could not visit her father in hospital due to the restrictions in place at the time. The day before he died, she watched him over Facetime as he lay attached to a ventilator.

“Now is the time to be contrite,” she said.

“He owes the nation and especially the bereaved a huge apology.”

Leshie, 43, from Ealing in west London, said she was angry at Mr Johnson.

Her father Ranjith, a 64-year-old bus driver, had been due to retire – but developed Covid symptoms on 24 April.

He was in hospital six days later. Three days after that, he died.

“It really is our nation’s great shame that Boris Johnson was our prime minister. We wouldn’t have had these outcomes with a different leader,” she said.

“My dad was the love of my life. I will always be traumatised by not being able to be there for him.”

The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK group said the committee’s verdict was “another grim reminder” of how the former prime minister broke his own rules “so he could have a party and a laugh” as families “were saying goodbye to loved ones over Zoom”.

David Garfinkel lost his 76-year-old father Ivor to the virus.

Now a spokesman for the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK group, he told the BBC the report’s findings came as no surprise.

“Johnson has shown no remorse,” he said.

“It’s an utter tragedy that Johnson was in charge when the pandemic struck and he should never be allowed to stand for any form of public office again.”

He added: “His justification was that he had to be at a leaving event. Why was that so important when people were dying of Covid and burying their loved ones?

“He was in a leaving event for 25 minutes. It took less than three minutes for them to switch off the ventilator for my dad when he died.”

He added: “I think for bereaved families… we all followed the rules. We had to live through the consequences of not being with our loved ones at the end, when they passed away, and we’ll have to live with that for the rest of our lives.”

Nicky Campbell’s phone-in on BBC Radio 5 Live heard from Liz in Harrogate. She said the report had restored her faith in Parliament.

When her father died of Covid, the family could only have six people at his funeral.

“My mother couldn’t even put a carnation on his coffin. We couldn’t hug her. It was barbaric.”

She thinks Mr Johnson’s response was “typical Boris”.

“He’s just so full of himself and his own self importance, it’s beyond a joke.”

Former cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke, who was given a knighthood in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list, said he was “amazed at the harshness of today’s report”.

He tweeted: “I believed Boris before and I believe him today. This punishment is absolutely extraordinary to the point of sheer vindictiveness.”

Bassetlaw MP Brendan Clarke-Smith said he was “appalled”, adding, “I’m backing fairness and justice – not kangaroo courts.”

Meanwhile, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg – also given a knighthood in the resignation honours last week – described the report as “fundamentally flawed”.

Nadine Dorries, who has said she plans to stand down as a Conservative MP, tweeted that the report had “overreached”.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said Mr Johnson had “made his decision, he made the decision to resign” after he saw the report last week, and added: “Boris has achieved an awful lot.”

But senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood said he hoped the report would allow MPs to move on from the “public pantomime”.

Former attorney-general and Conservative MP Dominic Grieve dismissed any suggestions the committee “had it in” for the former primer minister.

The sanctions recommended by the committee were “a result of his own actions,” he said, adding: “The history of his lying is just epic.”

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said Boris Johnson was “not only a lawbreaker, but a liar”.

“He’s not fit for public office. He’s disgraced himself and continues to act like a pound shop Trump in the way he tries to discredit anybody who criticises his actions,” she said.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said Mr Johnson has treated the public with disdain.

Scotland’s First Minister and SNP leader, Humza Yousaf, said when people in the UK “couldn’t visit a loved one”, Boris Johnson was “breaking the rules and having parties at Number 10”.