The daughter of a Dundee woman who died from Covid-19 has spoken of her “disgust” over a boozy Downing Street bash just weeks after her mother was laid to rest.
Liz Cullen wants to see police action against the Prime Minister over the latest crisis engulfing Number 10.
She said: “He is laughing at us. You couldn’t make it up.”
And she accused Boris Johnson of showing “not one iota” of regard for the plight of families like hers who lost loved ones as the virus exerted its deadly grip on the UK.
Escalating controversy around Downing Street goings-on as Covid-19 took hold has compounded the anger already felt by the devastated family of 75-year-old Yvonne Cullen.
Yvonne died on May 1 2020 after falling ill at South Grange Nursing Home in Monifieth.
She passed away in Ninewells Hospital a week after showing symptoms of the virus.
And daughter Liz has been astonished by what was reportedly going on around Number 10 at that time.
Bombshell email
The Prime Minister and his wife are believed to have joined the soiree.
It follows the controversy around a Christmas 2020 Downing Street ‘cheese and wine business meeting’ which saw the Prime Minister’s spokeswoman Allegra Stratton quit her role in early December last year.
Liz, who lives in Essex, said: “It’s just disgusting.
“And it seems to have gone on from beginning to end.
“My mum was in a care home in Dundee and my brothers weren’t even allowed in to see her.
“We were speaking to her on Facetime and getting updates on a daily basis.
“And then it all happened so quickly. It was just awful.”
Funeral dilemma
A family shattered by grief then had to make the heart-rending decision of who could attend Yvonne’s funeral.
Only ten were allowed at the Dundee ceremony, meaning even some of Yvonne’s grandchildren were unable to say a proper farewell.
Liz added: “My mother was a very popular woman.
“I’m sure there would have been many who would have wanted to be there to say goodbye.
“But they couldn’t be there.
“It wasn’t the send off she should have had.
“And even when my brother went to collect her belongings they left them at the door. He couldn’t go in because of the situation.”
‘We followed the rules’
She added: “But what we were all doing was following the rules, like everyone else.
“We did that because it was a pandemic that we knew very little about.
“So we were following the measures put in place at that time – socially distance, wear a mask and wash your hands.
“And do not meet with other people.
“But we find out that this was going on – you just couldn’t make it up.”
Liz backs the prospect of the Metropolitan Police investigation into the matter.
“He’s getting protection from the police and I don’t think they’re going to take this seriously.
“If you were Joe Bloggs you’d be marched to the court.
“He’s laughing at us, like they laughed about the Christmas party.”
Asked on Monday if he and wife Carrie attended a Downing Street party organised by Mr Reynolds on May 20, 2020, the prime minister said: “All that, as you know, is the subject of a proper investigation by Sue Gray.”
