Bereaved Man Challenges Rishi Sunak On ‘Trust’ After ‘Partygate’ During Factory Visit
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced a direct challenge over his Covid “partygate” scandal fine during a Q&A session with workers at a factory in Buckinghamshire, apologising to a man whose mother died at the time.
In 2022, then-chancellor Sunak was given a fixed penalty notice for attending a surprise birthday party for former Prime Minister Boris Johnson while the country was under pandemic lockdown.
Speaking to Sunak on Thursday, the man said: “My mum died in 2020, sort of at the height of the pandemic. My brothers and I couldn’t be with her in the hospital. I couldn’t be there. You probably remember, that was the month that the party’s were going on in Downing Street. I think the month after you attended a gathering where you got a fixed penalty notice.”
He added: “So my question was just how can anyone trust you or the party after things like this?”
Sunak responded, expressing sympathy: “I’m really sorry. that you lost your mom, and particularly in those circumstances, because it wasn’t easy for so many people during the pandemic, the impact it had on everyone’s life. And I can’t imagine what it must have been for you not to be able to be with her at that time. It was really tough. And I’m sorry for what was going on in Downing Street. And for my part, I apologised.”
Steering the conversation to the furlough scheme, introduced by Sunak to support workers when the pandemic lockdown prevented some people from working, the prime minister said: “In fact, it was probably in that same period of time that you got to know me as chancellor, but most of you didn’t know who I was before then. And I popped up on your TV screens, announced the furlough scheme because I knew that we were going to have to work together to get through that. And it was going to be a difficult time. And hopefully some of you here benefited from some of the support that we put in place because that was what I was working on during the pandemic.”
He continued: “So when you ask, can you trust me? We’ve had some really big shocks over the past few years with the pandemic and then what happened with energy bills. And when those things happened, I did everything I could to protect you and your families and help get the country through it, whether it was furlough, whether it was the considerable support with energy bills, because that’s who I am as a person.”
He added: “I’m in this to help you, help your family, and particularly when our country goes through tough times, I will always be there to support you.”
Sunak was on a visit to the Niftylift factory in Milton Keynes when he met the workers.
