Former Britain's Got Talent star Paul Potts has shared an emotional letter from a nurse about Boris Johnson and the Partygate scandal. The opera singer, who lives in Port Talbot, shared the letter written by registered nurse Andrea Needham who said she had "no words strong enough to express the anger" she felt about the prime minister after he was forced to apologise for his role in the scandal this week.
In her letter, which was published in The Guardian and later tweeted to the prime minister by Potts, Ms Needham said she was working through the pandemic as a registered nurse in a nursing home. She rejected the prime minister's excuse that staff in Number 10 had been working long hours, saying: "We were also working extremely long hours - only we were doing it swathed from head to foot in plastic, at risk of at risk of contracting a potentially fatal disease, but doing the best we could to protect our extremely vulnerable elderly residents."
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Ms Needham said "virtually all the staff" where she worked contracted Covid and that those who didn’t were working extra shifts to cover for those who were off sick, "getting home after 8pm and getting up again at 6am to do it all again.
"We did not party. We did not drink alcohol at work – we were lucky if we found time for a tea break. We carried on in desperate circumstances because we cared about our residents. Yet despite everything, Covid got into our home, and we had to watch as many residents died. By contrast, it sounds as if many Downing Street staffers saw the situation as a bit of a laugh. We were not laughing."
It was revealed this week that Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and other government representatives and officials attended gatherings while the UK was in the midst of lockdown restrictions and people were unable to visit dying relatives in hospital. After initially denying any illegal gatherings took place, Boris Johnson admitted this week that he 'briefly attended' gatherings to thank staff for their contributions during the Covid pandemic. The prime minister said he takes “full responsibility for everything that took place on my watch”.
Ms Needham said the prime minister's "suggestion that it was OK for people in No 10 to break the rules because they were working long hours is insulting and disrespectful to the key workers who were not only working extremely long hours but also putting their lives at risk". She said: "I have no words strong enough to contain the anger I feel about Johnson and his lies and excuses. If Tory MPs allow him to continue as prime minister, they are equally to blame. It is far, far past time for this disgusting man to go."
