“And the public need the clearest possible message, and spending a lot of time dealing with what happened last year is not helping get that message across.”īoris Johnson is expected to face questions over whether he has told the truth about an alleged lockdown-busting Christmas party in No 10 after leaked footage showed his aides joking about a festive gathering.
“We are saying now that masks are mandatory, but we need a really strong message we need to say: ‘The healthcare system is in an emergency situation and is going to be in that situation for several months’. I think if something that shouldn’t have happened has happened, it is better to admit it and to try to move on and to focus on what really matters – which is getting a very clear message across the British public. “So no, it really isn’t what we need at the moment.”Īsked what he would advise, Mr Taylor, who used to work in 10 Downing Street as chief adviser on political strategy for Tony Blair, said: “I don’t know what happened last year. Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS trusts, said the news of the Downing Street Christmas party was a “blow to morale” among those working in the NHS.Īsked whether the story matters to people running the NHS, Mr Taylor told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “In any difficult situation we all need to feel that we’re pulling together, that we’re a part of an effort and if it feels as though people have not been playing by the rules, if it feels as though powerful people are not playing by the rules, then there is a blow to morale, it does make it harder to get people to follow the advice. “It just demonstrates the lack of regard for the rest of us.”ĭr Ahsan said the saga showed why an independent inquiry into the handling of the pandemic was needed “now”. “And this latest revelation is just a bullet to the chest, it really is. In 14 years in the NHS I’ve never seen anything like it. The latest Downing Street Christmas party development has been called a “bullet to the chest” of families who have lost loved ones during the pandemic.ĭr Saleyha Ahsan, from the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, told BBC Breakfast the saga was “an example of how the Government have run this from the start: One rule for them and the rest of us have to adhere to different rules.”ĭr Ahsan, who said she had been working in north Wales at the time of the mock press conference, said: “Numerous people around the country couldn’t spend those precious last few days, hours, minutes with loved ones. Presenter Nick Robinson said: “We were expecting to speak to the Health Secretary Sajid Javid this morning but we were told just a few minutes after that video emerged that no minister would be available to speak on the programme today.”Īs well as Health Secretary Sajid Javid pulling out of national interviews in the wake of the Downing Street party video, vaccines minister Maggie Throup is understood to have pulled out of a planned round of regional television interviews.Ĭhristmas parties are reported to have been held in Downing Street last year while the country was in tight lockdown. In footage obtained by ITV News and released on Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s then-press secretary Allegra Stratton and adviser Ed Oldfield, along with other aides, were filmed laughing about a “fictional” Downing Street party in December 2020.īBC Radio 4’s Today programme said Mr Javid was scheduled to feature on Wednesday morning, but cancelled after the footage emerged. Health Secretary Sajid Javid pulled out of a key broadcast interview following the emergence of leaked footage showing Government aides joking about a festive gathering last year.