A Harrogate man who could only watch the funerals of his friends online has hit out at Prime Minister Boris Johnson over reports he attended a party around the same time.
Patrick Milne could not attend the funeral of a friend’s child who died with cancer at a young age or a colleague who died from an accident at home during the initial lockdown in 2020.
The UK was under strict rules at the time. People could only meet in pairs outdoors and had to stay two metres apart.
Around that time, according to a report from ITV News, the PM’s Principal Private Secretary Martin Reynolds sent out an invitation for drinks in the Number 10 garden to more than a hundred employees.
The PM Boris Johnson allegedly attended that party along with his wife Carrie Johnson.
There has been considerable coverage of the issue since the Daily Mirror claimed on November 30 that the PM and his staff broke coronavirus rules by attending parties at Number 10 in the run-up to Christmas in 2020.
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Mr Milne told the Stray Ferret:
“The numbers of people who could attend funerals were severely limited so only close family could attend. They also had to be completed in around 15 minutes.
“So it was just too much to see more evidence of these parties at Downing Street. It is even more difficult to listen to the tsunami of lies from Boris Johnson and the cabinet.
“People are angry because it is clear there was one rule for them and no rules for those in power. It’s painful to see.”
He also sent his concerns to Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones and urged him to speak out on the matter. Mr Jones has not yet responded to Mr Milne or a request for comment by the Stray Ferret.
Mr Jones said in early December that clarity was needed and called for the official report to be published as soon as possible.
Update: During an emergency debate in Parliament today, Mr Jones asked paymaster general Michael Ellis for a specific date as to when the report will be published. He was only told that it would be a “swift” investigation.
Harrogate Borough Council accused of ‘disrespecting Ripon’s dead’Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) has been accused of ‘disrespecting the dead of Ripon’ and causing ‘distress’ to their relatives and friends.
People visiting the city’s cemetery on Kirkby Road this week spoke of their ‘distress and disgust.’
They are concerned about unmown grass that has grown to a height that makes finding and visiting graves difficult.
In some areas of the cemetery, overhanging trees and hedges completely obscure rows of graves.
Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams, who has generations of his own family buried at the cemetery, told the Stray Ferret:
“The very limited maintenance of the grounds, perimeter hedges and trees is disrespectful of those who have their last resting place here.
“Visiting the graves of loved ones should provide consolation and help those who grieve, but instead of finding this peace, the state of the cemetery adds to their distress.”
Pictured above is the last headstone visible in a line of graves engulfed by an overgrown perimeter hedge
Rita Stuart, whose husband Robert died in February, was visiting to place flowers. She said:
“I feel as though the council doesn’t care.”
Tina Ward regularly visits the cemetery to pay her respects to family and friends who have passed. She pointed out:
“For many years this used to be a peaceful and well-kept place, with a man who looked after it living in a house within the grounds.
“Now, there is no proper care and It has descended into this disgusting condition.”
Pat Park, whose parents and sister are buried at the cemetery, added:
“Many of the people who visit are elderly and have limited mobility.
“The length of the grass makes visiting the graves very difficult, if not impossible.”
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Recently the council has been accused of not doing enough at another cemetery in Knaresborough where areas of the graveyard were overgrown.
In responding to the concerns an HBC spokesperson, said:
“Visitors to several of the cemeteries across the district may start to notice that some areas are being left to grow and not mown.
“We want to encourage biodiversity so are working with parish councils to leave specific areas to grow, attract pollinators and create habitats
“We have a regular programme of work, across all of the district’s cemeteries that we manage, and when specific issues are raised we will work to address these and carry out any required maintenance.
“We will of course continue to mow the grass along pathways and around gravestones so that mourners can pay their respects to their loved ones.”
Independent city and Harrogate district councillor Pauline McHardy has family members, friends and former nursing colleagues buried at the cemetery.
She said:
Rise in civil ceremonies inspires new career for Harrogate teacher“There has been no consultation with Ripon City Council about plans for ‘re-wilding.’
“It’s clear to me that this is an excuse for cutting costs, instead of cutting the grass and trimming hedges and bushes.
“This is a cemetery, not a nature reserve.”
A former teacher has set up a new business in Harrogate offering civil ceremonies as a result of a growth in non-religious weddings, funerals and naming ceremonies.
Weddings overall have been in decline over recent years, and religious ceremonies now account for less than a quarter of all weddings that take place in the UK.
Data published this year by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that in 2017, North Yorkshire had a total of 4,606 marriages of opposite-sex couples, 3,443 of which were civil ceremonies with only 1,163 religious ceremonies.
Former international teacher Melanie Gail has recently launched her new business in Harrogate. She told the Stray Ferret that the trend towards civil ceremonies sparked her interest in becoming an independent civil celebrant.
She said:
“The reason I am attracted to it is because I think it’s great that it offers people the freedom of choice. They can choose to have it on their front garden, or on a mountain top, or in a forest.
“People can get married whenever they want, provided they do the legal part in a registry office. They can have a ceremony which really reflects who they are.”
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As of August 1, larger wedding receptions can return but guest numbers will be limited to 30. Melanie argued that this may also make civil ceremonies more popular.
She said:
“Everything is becoming a lot smaller because of the legislations and potentially also a lot more intimate. With the new limits on numbers of guests at weddings, people are rethinking the venues they choose.”