Suffolk mum who couldn't be at dying son's side says Boris Johnson must resign over lockdown party

• Watch: Jo Wilcox speaks to ITV News Anglia

A mother who could not be at her son's bedside as he died of motor neurone disease is demanding Boris Johnson resign for attending a party during lockdown.

The prime minister admitted in the House of Commons on Wednesday that he had attended a Covid lockdown-breaking drink in Downing Street's garden - but claimed he thought it was a work event.

Jo Wilcox, from Ipswich had not been able to visit her son, Jason, when he went into a hospice due to Covid regulations in May 2020 - the same month as Number 10's drinks.

She told ITV News Anglia: "It’s made me very angry to think that all these people had to be alone and he was partying."

It was only when Jason's condition deteriorated further that family members were allowed short visits.

Mrs Wilcox said: "On the ninth day we got a phone call to say he was end of life and all the family could go over, which we did, but we were only allowed in one at a time so we didn’t have very long with him. By this time he was quite distressed.

"The next day we went again and he was in a coma and unfortunately they wouldn’t let us all stay overnight, because of Covid. Just his oldest daughter stayed.

"We got back at six in the morning and he passed away at five to six.

"It’s heartbreaking to know that while we were going through this with thousands of others, the people who made the rules were partying."

Jason died on June 1, 2020, just days after the May 20 drinks were being held at Number 10.

Mrs Wilcox said she had always voted Conservative, but was now calling on the prime minister to resign for breaking lockdown rules while her son was dying.

Mrs Wilcox said: "It’s brought it all back. It never goes away but this has made it so much worse.

"It just seems really unfair. We could only have 20 at his funeral. We couldn’t have limousines and we couldn’t have a wake at all.

"And to know that there were 30 people in the garden, and we couldn’t even do that for the wake for my son... It’s made me very angry to think that all these people had to be alone and he was partying.

"Somebody would have been with my son the whole time at the hospice. He had a loving family and somebody would have been with him all the time. It was just awful."

Mr Johnson has apologised to MPs, admitting there were "things we simply didn't get right" and said he "regrets very much that we did not do things differently that evening".

But the leader told MPs that he was only in the garden for 25 minutes to thank assembled staff before resuming work in his office.

"I believed implicitly that this was a work event. With hindsight I should have sent everyone back inside. I should have found some other way to thank them," he said.