‘It all goes back to Johnson'

The public reacts to claims that leaving parties were held in Downing Street on the night before Prince Philip’s funeral

- CHIARA GIORDANO

Hours after explosive reports emerged of two lockdownbreaking parties in Downing Street last April, the general feeling at a branch of the Co-op where a government staffer allegedly filled a suitcase with bottles of wine was one of disappointment.

The government was accused of being “the most corrupt we’ve ever had” as customers and passers-by reacted to the allegations outside the supermarket on the Strand, near Whitehall.

A pair of former civil servants said they were “disgusted” by the latest allegations of leaving parties being held at No 10 last April, the evening before strict Covid rules forced the Queen to sit alone at Prince Philip’s funeral as she bade farewell to her husband of 73 years.

Speaking outside the supermarket, one man, who wished to be named only as Richard, told The Independent: “I’m pretty disgusted really, because so many people were keeping to the rules, and the people who actually were making the rules decided they could break them.”