Susanna Reid has called out MP Jacob Rees-Mogg for describing the Downing Street partygate as ‘fluff’, saying his remarks were ‘insensitive and outrageous’.
A few days ago, the Brexit Minister was in attendance at the Conservative Spring Conference in Blackpool, where he said that the war in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion under the orders of Vladimir Putin is a ‘reminder that the world is serious’.
‘All that nonsense is shown for the trivial nature of it…. I’d say the same of “partygate”, all of that is shown up for the disproportionate fluff of politics that it was rather than something of fundamental seriousness about the safety of the world and the established global order,’ he said.
On Tuesday’s edition of Good Morning Britain, the panel spoke about Mr Rees-Mogg’s remarks, with Reid expressing her staunch disapproval of the politician’s sentiment.
‘It is outrageous, I would say, because there are people who were not able to be with family members who were dying because of laws introduced by his government,’ she said.
‘And to now tell those people who are hurt by the fact that the government ministers, members of the staff, may have broken the law to gather together in a way that nobody else was allowed to, to now dismiss that as “fluff” is insensitive, and outrageous.’
Reid then brought up the case of a 13-year-old boy who died in hospital alone local to where she lives, whose family was unable to attend his funeral due to Covid-19 restrictions.
‘That family is probably very concerned about the war in Ukraine. They will be living with a wound to their hearts that they could not be with that boy when he lost his life,’ she said.
‘So yes, the war in Ukraine is huge, but there’s a personal tragedy. That doesn’t explain away how difficult the lockdown breaches at the top of government were to those who couldn’t be together.’
Following Mr Rees-Mogg’s recent contentious remarks, Labour MP Chris Bryant tweeted that the comments were an excuse for ‘bad behaviour’.
‘Partygate isn’t fluff. It’s about one rule for you, one rule for the rest of us. It’s about the character of the Conservative party and it’s about standards and decency in public life,’ he said.
‘Those at the top will be held to account. You just excuse bad behaviour.’
It has been reported that the Metropolitan Police is to hand out the first fines over the Downing Street partygate, with Scotland Yard investigating 12 events, including as many as six Prime Minister Boris Johnson is said to have attended.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.
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