Partygate fines: Londoner who lost father to Covid calls on PM to 'do the right thing and step down'

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A woman who was restricted from visiting her dying father in hospital has told ITV News the prime minister should resign over partygate, as police investigations concluded.

Safiah Ngah, from Islington, north London, lost her father Zahari Ngah, 68, to coronavirus in February 2021. At the time she had limited access to visit him in hospital and the number of people allowed to attend his funeral was greatly reduced.

She told ITV News she is unhappy that Boris Johnson has avoided more partygate fines for events across Downing Street and Whitehall.

The 29-year-old said the fines are "nothing short of a terrible insult" to everyone who lost loved ones during the pandemic.

"When you consider that families like mine had to say goodbye to loved ones over a video call ... that's something I think about every day," she told ITV News.

"So to hear that Boris Johnson's government was celebrating and gathering together when we couldn't it beggars belief and I think it's absolutely disgusting - and surely he should do the right thing and step down."

Safiah Ngah with her late father Zahari, mother Barbara and brother Rory

Ms Ngah, who is a spokesperson for the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group also criticised the £460,000 cost of investigating the government, which she said could have been spent on support services for the bereaved.

"Conservative MPs promised they would make their mind up about the prime minister when the Sue Gray report is released," she said. "There is no reason for that report to be delayed any longer.

"Every day they do not act they allow a man who gaslit us and lied to the faces of the bereaved when he claimed he did 'everything possible' to save our loved ones remain the highest office in the land."

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who himself is under investigation for an alleged lockdown breach from April 2021, repeated his calls for the prime minister to resign.

"My view on the prime minister has not changed," he told broadcasters, "of course, after an investigation that shows 120-plus breaches of the law in Downing Street, of course he should resign".

Simon Clarke, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, welcomed the conclusion of the investigation, which he described as a "distraction."

"There has been a mistake. It has been apologised for and remedied," he said.

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