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Dec 8, 2021, 9 tweets

On December 18, Downing Street officials allegedly held a Christmas party in breach of Covid rules. @Bigissue spoke to frontline workers about what they were doing on the same evening as they battled to protect others: bigissue.com/news/politics/… #PartyGate

Bonnie Milnes was working in care on December 18, and was forced to stay away from her family to keep her client safe. “The party at number 10 highlights how much of a joke Boris makes of looking after the British public,” she says. bigissue.com/news/politics/… #downingstreetparty

@merseyview says it's clear the government “care very little” about people if they “can so brazenly flout the rules they put in place and then sneer about it”. On December 18, she was working in overstretched adult social care services: bigissue.com/news/politics/…

Between December 18 and 25, half the patients on nurse @Caitlyn68336341’s ward died of coronavirus. None were with their families thanks to pandemic restrictions. “It was the worst period of my life”, she says. “The Christmas party in No. 10 is abhorrent”: bigissue.com/news/politics/…

“Around the 18th December last year I was 16 weeks pregnant and working shifts on a COVID ward”, says doctor Imogen Jones. “To hear that Downing Street staff felt it was appropriate at this point to have a Christmas Party is astounding". bigissue.com/news/politics/…

“The government’s complete disregard of the general public and those who risked everything is negligent at best and criminal at worst. They disgust me to the core”, says Luke Davies, a teacher who supported students throughout lockdown. bigissue.com/news/politics/…

“If I was seen to be doing something like that I’d be sacked and they should too”, says a paramedic from Bristol who spoke to @BigIssue. They spent December 18 taking patients to A&E departments which were “literally buckling under the pressure of demand”. bigissue.com/news/politics/…

“On the 18th December I was on an A&E night shift”, says @JJustine75. “We were working very hard to comfort vulnerable people being admitted alone.” Justine caught coronavirus at work during this period, and is still suffering from long Covid. bigissue.com/news/politics/…

“Around the 18th of December I was missing my family, I knew I wouldn't get to see them for Christmas”, an Allied Health professional told @Bigissue. Their usual work Christmas party was “out of the question”, they said. bigissue.com/news/politics/…

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