Boris Johnson: Son's frustration at being unable to see dying Sheffield dad under lockdown laws that PM broke

Author Matt Anniss told listeners on BBC Radio 5 Live this morning (April 20) how he felt the country was “in it together” when he was unable to see his dying dad in early 2020.

He shared his story in light of Boris Johnson’s ‘unreserved apology’ to the House of Commons yesterday after the Met Police ruled he had broken his own lockdown laws.

“Like pretty much everyone else in the country – or certainly the vast majority – I stuck to the rules and that was incredibly difficult,” Matt told host Rachel Burden.

“All I wanted to do was to go up there and be with him and help my mum care for him in his final days.

“But I knew that the messaging was very clear, that we have to pull together as a country and nobody was above the law, that everyone was in it together, that nobody was above the law

“Of course we discovered months ago that we weren’t all in it together, and that’s the thing that still makes me and a lot of other people angry and frustrated and think that the Prime Minister is not fit to govern or to lead us.”

Matt, from Bristol, shared how his Sheffield dad lost the battle with prostate cancer in 2020.

He was able to see him in the summer shortly before he passed away when restrictions were eased.

“I did get to see him right at the end, and I feel blessed, many other people didn’t,” Matt told listeners.

“I have a second cousin whose mum unfortunately passed away of Covid after being on a ventilator for the first six or seven weeks. She was faced with the choice of where she could only go and see her mum right at the end when they were turning off the life support machine.

“Suffice to say, like many of us, she’s not happy with Boris Johnson and think he should have resigned months ago.”

It comes after the Prime Minister faced scorn from opposition parties as well as his own backbenchers in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

Party whips have reportedly also told MPs this Thursday to vote to block an investigation by the privileges committee into if Mr Johnson misled Parliament.

Matt – who told listeners he ‘has never been a supporter’ of Johnson – said: “The rules – the laws I should say – were very clear. He was announcing those laws every day and saying how important it was for us to stick to then.

“If we take it on face value in saying ‘well he’s remorseful or sorry’ – which personally I don’t think he is – but even if we take that, if he didn’t understand the laws that he’s announcing every day, then he’s clearly incompetent and not fit to be Prime minister. Either way he should go.

“If it was Keir Starmer, or Ed Davey, or Tony Blair years ago I would fully expect [them to resign] to be honest.

“It’s not about the leader, it’s about the principle.”