‘I feel like an idiot’: Funeral officer gets emotional as he discusses latest Downing Street party allegations

A funeral officer broke down in tears and said he felt “like an idiot” in following coronavirus rules in light of the latest Downing Street party allegations.

Speaking to LBC’s James O’Brien, Camiel Chaudhary said he stopped a lot of people attending cremations when rules put limits on the number of people who could attend funerals but since reading about continued allegations of rule breaking in Downing Street he wished he had been “more lenient”.

He said:

“I feel like an idiot. I feel like I could have been more lenient. If the government was being that lenient at the time.

“It’s a different type of government, a government that doesn’t follow the rules of [mere] mortals.”

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It comes after The Telegraph reported that two more parties took place during coronavirus restrictions. The parties allegedly occurred on 16th April 2021, the night before Prince Philip’s socially distanced funeral, and when the country was in step two of the lockdown roadmap - meaning no indoor mixing, and rule of six outside.

At the time, funerals in England were permitted with up to 30 attendees.

Meanwhile, there have been handfuls of other parties reported in the press and Boris Johnson apologised for attending a garden party in May 2020 but said he believed it was “a work event” and ruled out taking action until Sue Gray - the civil servant investigating the parties - finished her inquiry.

The officer added that when he stopped people at funerals some people would push past and others would cry and tell him they understood.

Partygate rumbles on and on.