A MAN who was unable to be with his 93-year-old father as he died has said he is insulted by Boris Johnson's behaviour.

Richard Hughes, 51, spoke out over his anger at allegations about Downing Street parties at the same time as his father died alone in hospital from covid. 

Mr Hughes says his father Edward, died on April 13 2020 and he was preparing for his dad's funeral on May 20 - the day Boris Johnson now admits he was at a drinks gathering in the garden of number 10. 

Mr Hughes says his father's death happened at around the same time that Dominic Cummings made his notorious trip to Durham, which he and Mr Johnson defended as within the rules. 

Richard said: "I find it offensive the way that the government has behaved.

"There is just a complete lack of empathy for the public.

"With the Downing Street parties, it doesn't shock me anymore.

"When he died, it was around the time of Dominic Cummings going to Durham.

"So much has happened since that it's what I expect, but it doesn't make it right.

"I couldn't be with my father when he died. I wanted to visit him as he was struggling to speak, he couldn't communicate over the phone.

"The hospital contacted us saying that they were expecting him to pass away and only one member of the family could be with him.

"It was a toss-up between me and my brother and he passed away the next day before we had decided."

Richard went on to say: "The funeral was restricted with numbers, only 10 people could go.

"My Dad had a lot of friends so we had a ceremony in September, the year after he died.

"His ashes were on a shelf in the undertakers for over a year which is so distressing for a family, but we thought, well, lots of families are going through the same thing.

"But when you see Boris Johnson on the news laughing about it, it leaves a bitter taste.

"They should lead by example. How can they expect people to follow the rules that they put in place if they can't follow them themselves?

"If we have another lockdown people are going to be thinking well, why should I? 

"I think he should resign but I can't imagine he will for a moment.

"He's done nothing to redeem himself. It's one thing after another."

Edward first went into a nursing home in Solihull in December 2019, just before the pandemic hit.

Richard saw him for the last time on Easter Sunday 2020 and believes the government could have done more to avoid covid reaching nursing homes.

"We'll never know if it was the hospital or the nursing home that he got covid.

"I feel bitter towards the government for not testing people before they went to hospital or testing people when going from hospital back into nursing homes at first. 

"Don't get me wrong, he was very old and I'm not saying he would be alive now, but I don't think he would have caught covid."

Edward Hughes worked as a mechanical engineer and also worked as a lecturer in mechanical engineering at Coventry polytechnic for 25 years.

Richard has lived in Worcester for almost 30 years and was planning to move his Father from a care home in Solihull to Worcester just before the pandemic hit