Easter Ross MP Jamie Stone accuses PM Boris Johnson of 'taking the country for fools' over Christmas video
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EASTER Ross MP Jamie Stone has accused the Prime Minister of "taking the country for fools" after a video showed Downing Street staff laughing about a Christmas party being held last year during Covid restrictions.
The video obtained by ITV has been broadcast on television and the story has appeared in the national press, much to the anger of the public, politicians and some Conservative MPs.
Mr Stone , the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross Liberal Democrat MP, said: "Boris Johnson's Conservative party is taking this country for fools. People in the far north will see right through his poor excuses and evasive answers.
"Highlanders spent their Christmas away from loved ones and sadly too many lost family and friends to this awful virus. At a time of great sacrifice when the pandemic was at its worst, it is disgraceful to think that people in Downing Street were laughing about holding a Christmas party.
He added: "Enough is enough. This government must be held accountable to an inquiry into all their rule breaking; from Barnard Castle – when the Prime Minister's then aide Dominic Cummings drove to the castle, during lockdown to test his eyesight, despite stay-at-home orders to contain the spread of coronavirus – to this latest episode. It cannot be one rule for them and another for the rest of us."
Conservative MPs also expressed anger about the situation while families who lost loved ones to Covid during that time have also hit out at the Prime Minister and his government over what is seen on the video.
Boris Johnson and his aides have repeatedly denied the party, reportedly held for staff at No 10 in December last year, broke Covid rules or took place.
However, in the leaked video of a mock televised press briefing, an adviser to Johnson is seen joking with the prime minister’s then press secretary, Allegra Stratton, about "a Downing Street Christmas party on Friday night".
The footage, obtained by ITV, was shot on 22 December last year.
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