Northumberland's Labour leader has accused Boris Johnson of "taking the British public for fools" as he calls on the county's Tory head to condemn his own boss.
Druridge Bay Councillor Scott Dickinson, leader of Northumberland's Labour group, says he's written to council leader Glen Sanderson urging him to publicly condemn the Prime Minister and his team over the now-notorious "bring your own booze" event in the Downing Street garden in May 2020.
Mr Johnson's confession that he did attend the event during the first lockdown caused outrage last week - with many in the North East adding their voices to those criticising the PM.
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He apologised for joining the back garden party, but insisted he "believed implicitly that this was a work event".
In a letter to Conservative Councillor Sanderson, Coun Dickinson insisted that, in making this claim, "Boris Johnson continues to take the British public for fools" and claimed the PM had "lost his authority and is too distracted to fulfil his duties."
He told the Northumberland leader: "I am writing to encourage you to condemn the Prime Minister and his team's actions, in public. This contemptible behaviour needs calling out, regardless of political persuasion. I hope you'll agree this is the least the general public and your constituents deserve."
Asked by NorthumberlandLive about the letter and calls to condemn the Prime Minister, Coun Sanderson declined to comment.
But Coun Dickinson insisted the leader must make his position clear.
He said: "People across Northumberland pulled together to protect lives and livelihoods as we came through some of the darkest months of the pandemic.
“Bereaved families, our key workers and all those that diligently followed the rules have been mocked by Boris Johnson.
"Glen Sanderson must choose - [is he] on the side of those who followed the rules to protect the NHS and save lives, or the out of touch Tory Government who treat them with contempt?"
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