‘Stop ignoring us’ Huge faces of grieving families of Covid victims challenge PM

  • london
  • November 19, 2020
  • Comments Off on ‘Stop ignoring us’ Huge faces of grieving families of Covid victims challenge PM
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Grieving families who lost relatives to coronavirus have projected their faces onto Parliament in a protest against the Prime Minister.

The video messages, which appeared on the Palace of Westminster last night, asked Boris Johnson to meet with them to discuss how the Government handled the first peak of the pandemic.

Organised by campaign groups Led by Donkeys and Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, the relatives called on Boris Johnson to stop ‘ignoring’ them.

They claim the PM said he would meet with people who had lost loved ones, but has since gone back on his promise.

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Deborah Doyle, who lost her mum Sylvia Griffiths to the virus in April aged 76, said: ‘We have written to you, the group that I am involved in, many times. In Parliament, you have said you will meet with bereaved families.’

Jamie Brown, whose 65-year-old father Tony Brown died of Covid-19 in Colchester General Hospital in March, added: ‘You said you’d meet with us and then went back on your promise.

‘So now you are ignoring us we decided to bring our message to the Houses of Parliament.’

Lobby Akinnola, whose dad Olufemi died from the virus in April, said: ‘I would do anything to have my dad back, but I can’t.

‘So instead I’m going to try and emulate him – and care for other people, and use everything I can to make sure that no-one else has to experience this.

‘There are lessons to be learned here that can prevent other people from feeling the pain that I feel every day.’

Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK tweeted video footage of the projections, writing: ‘The Prime Minister won’t meet with us. So we’ve taken our message somewhere he can’t ignore us. #CovidInquiryNow.’

Campaigners are calling for a public inquiry into the Government’s response during the first wave of coronavirus.

More than 200,000 people signed a petition calling for one, arguing it should have a ‘rapid review’ phase so initial findings are reported back within weeks – as happened with the Hillsborough disaster.

Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, which represents 1,450 families, said in August that it had written to Mr Johnson three times and asked to meet and share their experiences.

But it was told the Government could not meet the families due to the ‘current pandemic’.

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