Editor: Government garden party is like rubbing salt into an unbearable wound

We stayed home, we faced painful heartbreak in terrible circumstances and we took the education of our children off the priority list because we all had to pull together to beat Covid-19.

There were goodbyes that were never able to take place and farewell hugs that weren’t allowed as all the usual companionship and physical support was removed by the necessity of lockdown.

It isn’t always easy to remember what you were doing on a particular day but some of us are now scarred by the events of May 20, 2020.

For hundreds of Sheffielders it was another exhausting day wearing full PPE, desperately working to save patients’ lives and risking it all to do the right thing.

At best, we were in our homes and isolated from those we love with normal lives on hold. At worst, we were in tears at home while those we love were dying alone. We were unable to hold their hands in their final moments and we were unable to start dealing with such incredible loss.

Oh, how that grief has worsened now we know that those who made the rules were not following them. The outpouring of emotion prompted by the belief that the Prime Minister attended a party in the garden of his Downing Street home is unbelievable and yet completely understandable.

At that point, we were only allowed to meet one person from another household and that had to be outside. Weddings were banned, funerals were tiny and schools were closed. Yet those at the very top thought it was appropriate to invite 100 staff to make the most of good weather and bring their own alcohol. Boris Johnson and his wife are widely believed to have taken part, alongside 30 other people.

The Prime Minister was unsurprisingly nowhere to be seen yesterday. Junior ministers were put forward to face the questions but the man who knows – and has always known – whether he went or not was nowhere to be seen.

Out of respect for those who died and those who went through unimaginable loss alone, he must just be honest. Tell us the truth and then do the right thing.