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High Peak MP on 'partygate' row: 'I will not defend the indefensible'

High Peak MP Robert Largan.

High Peak's Conservative MP has said he "will not defend the indefensible" after details of more breaches of Covid-19 restrictions at Downing Street emerged.

Boris Johnson is under renewed pressure after ITV News reported on Monday (24 January) that up to 30 people attended a June 2020 event at No 10 during the first Covid lockdown, sang Happy Birthday to the prime minister and were served cake.

No 10 said staff had "gathered briefly" to "wish the prime minister a happy birthday", adding that he had been there "for less than 10 minutes". 

It’s the latest in a string of revelations about alleged parties at No 10 and Whitehall during the pandemic, which are subject to an inquiry led by senior civil servant Sue Gray and now an investigation by the Metropolitan Police.

In a lengthy post on his Facebook page on Tuesday (25 January), High Peak MP Robert Largan outlined his position amid the ongoing 'partygate' row.

“Like everyone else in High Peak, I am only learning about these allegations now,” he wrote. “Throughout the pandemic, I have followed Covid restrictions even when it meant not being able to see my family.

“In 2020, I couldn’t hold an 80th birthday party for my father. Nor was I able to see my nephew and niece, both born during lockdown, for the first few months of their lives. I’ve been unable to attend funerals too.

“Following the Prime Minister’s statement on 12 January and the revelations since, it is clear that breaches of Covid restrictions took place in Downing Street. I will not defend the indefensible. We cannot have a situation where it is one rule for politicians and another rule for everyone else.

“I have always taken an independent-minded approach as your Member of Parliament, putting the High Peak ahead of party politics. I have been prepared to speak up when I believe the Government have got things wrong. That includes voting against the Government on a number of occasions, including on the issue of standards in public life.

“By taking this approach, I have been able to help secure significant changes in the law, most recently on placing a public duty on water companies to prevent raw sewage from being discharged into rivers and waterways. I am proud of my record of standing up for what is right.

“I want to assure you that I will be taking the appropriate action to defend integrity in public life. In the meantime, I will continue to stand up for the High Peak.”

Meanwhile, the Glossopdale Labour group has called on Mr Largan and his colleagues to ‘do the right thing and make the prime minister go’, whilst accusing the Conservatives of ‘laughing at us’ and ‘acting like there weren’t any rules at all’. 

Councillor Damien Greenhalgh, who is also deputy leader of High Peak Borough Council, said: “Thousands of small children in High Peak haven’t had the chance to celebrate their birthdays properly for almost three years. But not Boris Johnson and the Conservatives in Downing Street.

“It is utterly outrageous that young children were forced to miss out on the most special events while the Conservatives setting the rules acted like there weren’t any rules at all.

“Many of us have faced the heartbreak of lost moments gone forever, including restricted funerals - we have all seen the images, including those of the Queen just hours after Conservatives in Downing Street raucously danced the night away.

“Yet now we know that while people in High Peak did everything they can to beat back this terrible virus, Conservatives in Number 10 were laughing at us.

“Your family obeyed the rules, my family obeyed the rules, the Royal family obeyed the rules - but for Conservatives in Downing Street it appears there were no rules. They partied away while the rest of us suffered - and what’s almost as bad is that they have lied about it ever since. It is utterly despicable that Boris Johnson remains in post, without a shred of integrity.

“It’s time for those that prop him up like our High Peak MP do the right thing and make him go - and apologise to the decent people of High Peak who they have taken for fools.”


Damien Greenhalgh, a Labour councillor in Glossopdale and deputy leader of High Peak Borough Council  

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