Response i got read:-
Thank you very much indeed for your letter regarding the allegations of the breaking of Covid restrictions related to No 10 Downing Street.
I have received a large number of emails which raise very severe concerns that whilst the rest of us (including myself) had to fully comply with the rules, it appears that events were taking place at Downing Street that could have been non-compliant and certainly from what I have seen do not seem to be within the rules at the time..
I understand very well how the lockdown affected people with relatives in hospital who they couldn’t visit, even when they were approaching the end of their life, or had relatives in care homes who were often confused and bewildered as to why their nearest and dearest could not visit.
Other constituents had to cancel major family events such as weddings, and of course, as we saw from the funeral of Prince Philip, there were tough restrictions in place regarding funerals and who could attend them, and how social distancing had to be maintained.
For these reasons I absolutely understand why so many people are angry that reports emanating from Downing Street, show that drinks both in the garden and in the building were taking place, which although were in a work place involving people who worked together during the day, did not seem to some observers to be directly work related.
You will be aware that No 10 have instigated an enquiry into these led by an independent and well respected civil servant, who was not connected with any of these events, Sue Grey, and I hope that this will shed some light on the legality or otherwise of these events.
Whether these broke the letter of the law or not, I absolutely agree with you that these were against the spirit of the regulations in place and did not set a good example to the rest of us who were trying very hard to comply and keep the disease under control.
Some of these events were also attended by the Prime Minister which, of course, has shone a very strong spotlight as to his activities at this time, which will also be part of that report.
Following the report it maybe that the Metropolitan Police could take action against groups or individuals who were either organising or attending these events should they prove to have been outside the rules.
Finally, you may recall that following the trip Dominic Cummings made to County Durham almost two years ago, I was one of the first to call for his sacking, and was disappointed that the Prime Minister did not take decisive action to make it clear that the same rules apply in Downing Street or to those who work in Downing Street as to the rest of us.
I also know that when illegal events were taking place in Scarborough or Whitby, the police were issuing fines and giving people advice and I myself was actually one of those encouraging people to comply with the rules which makes the current situation even more irritating to myself.
Thank you again for getting in touch, this is a rapidly evolving situation and I am sure that over the next few weeks some fairly tough decisions will have to made.
Yours sincerely
Shame his secretary can’t spell the civil servants name correctly - I suspect the same one size fits all email will get sent to anyone else in his constituency