The Prime Minster, Boris Johnson, admitted today (Wednesday) in Parliament that he had attended the ‘Bring Your Own Drinks’ party held on 20th May 2020 in the garden of his Downing Street residence.
He told the House that he “wanted to apologise” and that “I know the rage they feel with me and with the government I lead, when they think that in Downing Street itself the rules are not being properly followed by the people who make the rules”.
Does Seely support PM?
News OnTheWight has been in touch with Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Bob Seely, to ask these two quick questions:
- Did you attend the 20th May 2020 party that ITV unveiled yesterday?
- Now he has admitted being at the party, do you still support Boris Johnson as Prime Minister?
Seely’s response
Mr Seely responded to the questions, but chose not to answer whether or not he supported the Prime Minister,
“I am glad the PM has apologised.
“Those Islanders that have taken the time to write to me are clearly frustrated by the situation. I understand their feelings, especially those people who were kind enough to share with me their sadness at being apart from loved ones during that period. I am very sorry to hear that.
“The year 2022 should be about getting life back to normal; getting children and young people’s education back to normal, catching up with the NHS backlog with the Government’s additional funding, and getting the economy going again – looking forward with a sense of optimism.
“These are the real issues that matter to the lives of Islanders and the life of our country, and these are the things that affect us all.
“Was I at any event at Downing Street? No.”
Quigley: Time for PM and MP to resign
Isle of Wight councillor for Cowes North, Richard Quigley (Lab), told News OnTheWight,
“If the Prime Minister was sincere, he could have apologised at any time over the last 18months. He hasn’t, he has apologised for being found out, much like our own MP Bob Seely did after his BBQ with Richard Tice, Isobel Oakeshott and Freddie Gray was discovered.
“The rules mattered, they told us they mattered, but as it turns out, they only applied to us, the little people. Johnson and Seely have treated us with contempt, contempt that spreads wider than their actions during lockdown.
“I am truly sorry for those that lost someone close to them and couldn’t be near them at the end as they followed the rules. Rather than hiding behind an enquiry, it is time for the PM to find his moral compass and do the right thing and resign, the same applies to Bob Seely MP.”
The Seaview BBQ
The Downing Street garden party was held just two days before the BBQ in Seaview that Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Bob Seely, attended with his girlfriend during Lockdown.
It was from this incident on 22nd May, where Seely admitted eating half a sausage at the BBQ, that gave rise to the moniker that seems to have stuck for many Islanders, ‘Half a sausage Seely’.
Whilst the rest of the nation were told they were only allowed to see one other person not from their household, Seely felt it necessary to talk in person to a London-based journalist who’d written an article about the Covid Contact Tracing App.
Invited to meet in person
As most people will remember, during Lockdown much of the nation at this time were using technology such as Skype or Zoom to hold work meetings, take exercise classes, socialise with friends or even to watch funerals.
However, Bob explained that he’d been invited by The Spectator magazine’s deputy editor, Freddy Gray (a self confessed DFL), to meet at the BBQ in Seaview over the May bank holiday weekend. It was also attended by Brexit party chairman, Richard Tice, and his partner, political journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who was staying at what The Guardian reported as her second home on the Island.
Islanders were angry at the MP and the other BBQ attendees who had travelled to a second home at a time when the rules stipulated no overnight stays in second homes, and only essential travelling.
Image: Boris Johnson by eu2017ee under CC BY 2.0
