Important People 2020-21: The Downing Street Parties!

Captain Tom Moore was a 99-year old army veteran who set himself a goal of walking 100 lengths of his garden to raise money for the NHS. He was an international sensation who put a smile on everyone’s face! He set out to raise £1,000, but actually raised £33 million!!

Boris Johnson was the GB Prime Minister: he didn’t handle COVID-19 very well (in my opinion) as we went into lockdowns weeks after the rest of the world, which could have saved many lives. He also handled care homes badly by not testing old people and letting COVID positive residents go back to their care homes to spread the illness. At the start of the pandemic nobody knew much about it, so we can’t entirely blame Boris for what he did, but he should have learnt his lesson and acted quicker!

Dominic Cummings drove 260 miles from London to Durham, and took a 60-mile round trip from Durham to a nearby town on his wife’s birthday - a trip he says he made to test whether his eyesight was good enough to drive! But his actions raised the question: why did one of the government’s most senior employees ignore the rules he had helped set for millions of people across the nation? So I think his story about why he broke the law he helped to make is a massive lie!

Matt Hancock was the UK’s Health Secretary from 9th July 2018 to 26th June 2021. He was replaced by Sajid Javid because he breached social distancing guidance by kissing a colleague. He had been under increasing pressure to resign after he and Gina Coladangelo, who were both married with children, were seen kissing on CCTV in a government building. Matt Hancock announced, along with Boris Johnson, for everyone to stay at home; to only go out if it’s really necessary, yet he broke the law and tried to get away with it.

People couldn’t see their loved ones, missed their birthdays and their last days and he was too busy living his life. He is a very selfish man!

Rishi Sunak served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020-22. On 17th March 2020, Sunak announced £330 billion in emergency support for businesses, as well as a furlough scheme for employees. This was the first time a British government had created such an employee retention scheme, so it made British history!

Chris Whitty was the Chief Medical Officer and was one of the main campaigners for self isolation. He was regarded as one of the figures in the public eye who handled COVID well.

Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, firmly believed that COVID didn’t exist and that bleach could help get rid of COVID, which a few people believed and became seriously ill from.

He also frequently called COVID the ‘China Virus’, which fuelled racist issues throughout America.

Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States, took COVID a lot more seriously than his predecessor. He advised mask wearing. He conducted his political campaign from the basement of his house, as he is relatively old and would be very vulnerable to COVID.

Margaret Keenan was the first person in the world to get the approved COVID vaccine. The 92 year old grandmother got her vaccine on 8th December 2020.

JVT (Jonathan VanTam) is one of the medical officers in Britain and served in the government since 2017. He regularly appeared on TV talking about the pandemic and has recently been knighted for his efforts. He stepped down to assume a role at the University of Nottingham.

Maud and Oscar

During the COVID period, some members of the government and Boris Johnson broke COVID restrictions by throwing parties.

One of the parties took place on 13th November 2020 when many fines were given except to Boris Johnson. Although the Prime Minister denied them there is evidence to prove these parties did occur. The rules prohibited indoor gatherings of two or more people and the police confirmed that fines were handed out over this event were for breaching this restriction.

On June 19th 2020, another party took place to celebrate Boris Johnson’s birthday. The report said Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Simon Case, now the UK’s top civil servant, both attended “for a short period having arrived early for a meeting”. Boris Johnson was fined for this party but Simon Case was not. Overall about 10 parties took place in Downing Street, which broke multiple restrictions and also made the population very angry as the government were the ones putting these restrictions in place!

There was also a party on 16th April 2021, the day before the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral. Therefore, people compared these actions with the Queen left sitting alone at his funeral!

The TCC Feelings on the Parties: our views as the story broke…

“I think Boris is trying to hide they actually happened, then the video about his representative making up a lie (Allegra Stratton) just shouts that the party definitely happened. She said she could have cheese and wine: it was a business meeting, which doesn’t make sense! She could have said that from the start instead of covering up and then to say that, it’s very suspicious!”

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Maud

“Thoughts about Boris’ Party: very hypocritical! However, I think that as well as that was bad, the media doesn’t need to hold grudges and report things that happened a year ago. There are much more important things to think about. He cannot be blamed for everything.”

- Emily