A group representing the families of people who died of Covid-19 has expressed its disgust at video purporting to show revellers at the Conservative party headquarters during lockdown, as the police said they were “considering” the footage.
The video, which was obtained by the Mirror newspaper, appears to show Tory party workers drinking alcohol and dancing on 14 December 2020 at a gathering held by the campaign team of the unsuccessful London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey.
Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK called for the Metropolitan police to reinvestigate the gathering after the force previously found insufficient evidence to prosecute those involved.
Matt Fowler, a co-founder of the campaign group whose father, Ian, died in April 2020, said: “It’s pretty pretty shocking to see this especially on Father’s Day.” He also called for those involved to be stripped of recent honours.
In a brief statement, a Scotland Yard spokesperson, said: “We are aware of the footage and are considering it.”
A photograph of the alleged party formed part of a Met investigation last year. Police found insufficient evidence of lawbreaking and no fines were issued. The Met said: “The photo by itself is not sufficient evidence on which to assess that an offence had been committed.”
Fowler said: “It absolutely should be investigated again, but you’ve got to wonder how much confidence to have in that investigation. This hasn’t come out until now, and that’s definitely something to be worried about. Either the first investigation wasn’t good enough or for whatever reason the results were suppressed, which is just wrong.”
At least 24 people were reported to be at the party, including Bailey, who was given a peerage in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list this month. Bailey left before the video was taken.
Ben Mallet, who was awarded an OBE in Johnson’s list and was Bailey’s campaign director, does appear in the video wearing Christmas braces and a blue tie. Mallet is running the campaign for Mozammel Hossain, who is on the shortlist to be the Tory candidate at next year’s London mayoral election.
Fowler said recent honours for Bailey and Mallet should be removed. He said: “I don’t think these sort of people deserved to have been honoured in the first place, so they probably should be stripped of their titles. Maybe that sort of punishment is warranted because that could influence people in the future to behave in a much more honest and acceptable way.”
Fowler also called for Hossain to pull out of the mayoral race.
He said: “It’s terrible that those members of the ruling party felt safe enough to record their lawbreaking. That says a lot about the culture of the Conservatives. It is obvious that the attitude was definitely been one rule for them and a different rule for everybody else.”
Fowler added: “For many of us it’s much more difficult to see this in person. It’s just been a really gut-wrenching experience all around.
“Christmas 2020 was dreadful for me trying to come to terms with what had happened. It was a very quiet and subdued Christmas without Dad there. He was a huge part of our lives and it just felt empty. And to see people doing this sort of thing is just horrible.”
Fowler said dozens of members of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK had taken to the campaign’s WhatsApp group to express their anger and frustration at the video. “They are all hurt by this,” he said.
Susie Crozier-Flintham, whose father, Howard, died of Covid in March 2020, messaged the group to say: “They know the bereaved relive our trauma every time something comes out, and this is beginning to feel like deliberate triggering.”
Leshie Chandrapala, whose father died of Covid in April 2020, told the group: “Whilst the country were following the rules, Tory HQ were dancing on the graves of those who died, betraying Covid bereaved and taking the nation for fools.”
Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, said the actions depicted in the video were “terrible” and “indefensible”. But he declined to comment on whether the Met should reopen its investigation into Partygate. Gove said Mallet and Bailey should keep their titles.
A spokesperson for Bailey said: “This is an old story. We repeatedly apologised for this event at the time. It was subject to a nearly year-long police investigation. The matter is closed.”
