A neuroscientist who spoke his last words to his Covid-ridden father over the phone while he was in hospital has called the reports of multiple Downing St parties over this time “disgusting”.
Dr Dean Burnett, a Cardiff local, spoke his last words to his father Peter over the phone, as lockdown had meant he was unable to visit the 58-year-old during the two weeks or so that he was in hospital.
Peter died as a result of Covid-19 on April 20, 2020.
"My final words to him were said over a phone, held to his unconscious ear by a consultant," Dewan said. "It was as brutal as you imagine."
Dean, 39, is among countless people struggling to comprehend the reported culture of partying and rule-breaking at the heart of Downing Street when so many were making tragic sacrifices.
As reports have flooded in over recent weeks, Dean has felt increasingly numb, he told Wales Online.
"You are so angry that it pushes you beyond," said the honorary research associate at Cardiff University. "It's like stretching an elastic band so far that it goes too floppy. Of course I'm angry and I think it's vile and disgusting, and everyone involved in these parties should be drummed out of public life immediately.
“But that's not going to happen is it?"
Peter had three children and three grandchildren. In his 20s, he was the landlord of the Royal Hotel pub in Pontycymer, before he moved to Port Talbot and became a property developer.
Although Peter only lived to 58, he had about 600 years' worth of stories, said Dean. "My dad was very much a larger than life figure, a big-hearted man who always looked after those around him," he added.
"He didn't have much of a formal education. His classic line was, 'I worked really hard in school — what a Thursday that was.' He'd say that at any given opportunity. Me being a neuroscientist and a published author was baffling to him.
"On Sundays he'd always have family round for a roast. He was pathologically obsessed with making good gravy. He loved a roast but mainly because it was a suitable vehicle for his gravy, which became the stuff of legend."
Dean added his dad had "the gift of the gab" and was hugely popular in his community. Covid restrictions meant only a fraction of those close to him could attend his funeral, but many more paid their respects by lining the streets as his hearse went from his house to Margam Crematorium.
"Imagine if S4C made a re-enactment of Princess Diana's funeral and it was in Port Talbot," said Dean. "That is basically what it was like."
Barring a gallbladder operation a year earlier, Peter did not struggle with his health before catching Covid. When he walked into hospital in April 2020, Dean expected he would walk out again.
Dean said: "He was a big guy but not unhealthy. He was active. We had a family WhatsApp call with him while he was in hospital and he seemed to be in good spirits.
“He was fairly sure he would be out of it. Then suddenly he got a lot worse. His stats had seemed to improve a bit, but very soon after that he had to go on a ventilator."
That WhatsApp video call was to be the last time Dean would see his dad. Unable to visit because of the restrictions, Dean remembers sitting in his pyjamas in his kitchen when he got a call from the hospital. He was given 20 minutes' notice for a final phone call to Peter.
With a consultant holding the phone to Peter's ear, Dean remembers telling his unconscious dad: "You did a good job."
"They didn't know if he would last the day, but it was another couple of days before he finally succumbed. I made my peace with it. If the doctors tell you there's no coming back, I'm not one who believes in miracles, but there were a couple of days of weird uncertainty."
Within weeks of Peter's death, it emerged that the Prime Minister's then-chief adviser Dominic Cummings' had made a lockdown-breaking trip to Barnard Castle in March 2020. It was "jarring", Dean said, to hear Boris Johnson choose to defend his aide.
"Covid had killed someone very close to me and the idea of inflicting it on someone else by not obeying the rules was unimaginable to me," he said. "I was emotionally distraught and I still had to look after my kids, but because of lockdown there was no one to rally round like they would normally when you lose someone. To then hear Boris Johnson say Cummings did what any good parent would do, it was a massive slap in the face to all parents across the country who had been following the rules."
Dean had expected senior Government figures to "ignore certain rules" but he was unprepared for the "audacity" exposed in recent reports of Downing Street gatherings.
"For them to be having parties seemingly round the clock... I don't think students have this many parties. This was where they were running the country, and it turns out it was like a Wetherspoon. I didn't think they had that much contempt for people.
"It's become weirdly familiar now. Boris Johnson is just that callous a person. He will go to a party while telling an entire country not to go to funerals."
Dean has written a book about the loss of his father, which he says has helped him in working through his grief. He expects it to be published soon.
Approached for a response to Dean's comments, a No 10 spokeswoman said the Prime Minister "addressed this during his statement to the Commons last week".
Johnson admitted in the Commons that he had been at the Downing Street party on May 20, 2020, for about 25 minutes so he could thank staff for their hard work. He said he thought it was a work event but "with hindsight I should have sent everyone back inside".
Around 40 people reportedly attended the party after Johnson's principal private secretary Martin Reynolds invited 100 staff to "bring your own booze".
