A previous Boris Johnson prime pastoral assistant that was called “Party Marty” after preparing a bring-your-own-booze yard celebration in Downing Street throughout Covid constraints has actually gotten an honour at Windsor Castle for civil service.
Martin Reynolds, Johnson’s previous primary exclusive assistant, was made a friend of the Order of the Bath at an event led by the Princess Royal.
Reynolds was consisted of in Johnson’s resignation honours checklist introduced in June 2023.
In May 2020 Reynolds had actually sent out a welcome throughout lockdown to around 200 No 10 personnel welcoming them to appreciate the “lovely weather” with some “socially distanced drinks in the No 10 garden this evening”, including: “Please join us from 6pm and bring your own booze!” A variety of individuals were later on fined for going to the occasion in violation of lockdown regulations.
The Covid -19 Bereaved Families for Justice (CBFFJ) project team has actually called the honour a disrespect to the memories of those that passed away, stating Reynolds had “failed in serving the public” which his “mistakes should cost him this honour”.
Appearing prior to the UK Covid -19 questions in October 2023, Reynolds apologised “unreservedly” when inquired about the celebration, stating he was “deeply sorry” for “my part in those events and for the email message which went out that day”.
He claimed due to the fact that information of the celebration did not arise till “about 15 months later”, he did not think it had a significant effect on the general public throughout the pandemic at the time. “So while I totally accept I was totally wrong in the way I sent the email around and for the event, I think the impact on public confidence – although obviously now in terms of public confidence more generally it did have a serious impact – in terms of the pandemic at that time it … had less impact,” he informed the questions.
The CBFFJ claimed: “The fact that Martin Reynolds is being given an honour for public service having invited staff to a bring your own booze party in No 10 during lockdown is an insult to the memories of those who died because the government failed to protect them, to all who died and grieved alone during lockdown, and to every key worker who sacrificed so much to keep people safe in the absence of a government capable of handling the crisis of Covid-19.”
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Others provided with honours consisted of the previous Conservative deputy head of states Th érèse Coffey and Oliver Dowden, both for political and civil service, having actually been called in Rishi Sunak’s dissolution honours checklist in July.
On getting the honour, Coffey claimed: “I am proud of doing my best to try to help the environment and helping people get through Covid. We have tried to put the public first in everything we do, much like the royal family.”
