I was disappointed but not surprised that the prime minister won the vote of no-confidence last night. Boris Johnson seems to have an ability to escape the consequences of his actions within his own party. He is untouchable. One of the main impressions I’ve had during the pandemic is that this government is not prioritising the people, that the wellbeing of the public comes second to ministers’ own careers. And now this seems to have been confirmed, very loudly. The Conservative party has said, “We find this attitude acceptable in a leader. We don’t care what you think.”
When news of Partygate broke, I was struggling to deal with the loss of my dad, who died in April 2020. I wasn’t able to say goodbye to him. I wasn’t able to see him when he was ill because of the rules. And even before he was ill, I had planned to go home for the weekend; but lockdown was announced, so I obeyed the rules and I never saw my dad alive again. I’ve told myself that it was the right thing to do, because we were told that we had to protect the people around us. But I have a heavy cost to bear – that I will never see my dad again. And it hurts to think that when asked to make the same sacrifice it had asked of the British public, our own government didn’t think that the inconvenience of not having a party was worth it.
There were staff in Downing Street who said, “This is dangerous, you’re putting people at risk.” We can all agree that it was not helpful to work in an environment where there were parties taking place – where people were mingling, there was no social distancing, and no concern about who might be affected by the decision to break the rules.
Polls have shown that the public no longer trust the prime minister. He has broken the law and lied to everyone, but the Conservative party seems to have decided that it is more important for it to support this man rather than choose a new leader who might, at least, rebuild some faith with the public. It is concerning because we are currently facing multiple crises, like the war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis. And despite what we are being led to believe, Covid isn’t over yet. But the prime minister no longer has the moral authority to ask anyone to do anything. Who is going to listen to him? He doesn’t have our trust because he has betrayed it time and again.
It is hard for me to find hope in the 41% of Conservative MPs who voted against their leader. Had any of these things happened under the watch of any other prime minister, I feel like they would have long since resigned. But unless power is wrestled from him, Johnson will not go. Getting the public inquiry into the UK’s pandemic response up and running is the only way that we are going to get any kind of truth and transparency. Johnson has built a little enclave around him to protect him from any form of consequence. Only a thorough, systematic and legally binding investigation will bring people to account – and help bereaved families like mine move on.
I met Boris Johnson in September 2021. I told him my story and about the pain of losing my father. He looked at the five of us who had lost family members to Covid and he said that he had done everything he could. Later we found out that he had held a party in the same garden we had that conversation in. One of these parties took place the day after my father’s funeral. He lied to my face. He lied to the faces of grieving people. If I was to speak to him again I would ask, “Can you not empathise with the suffering your behaviour has caused?” Because I truly do not understand this.
Lobby Akinnola is a member of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group
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