Lockdown ‘party’ MPs ‘should follow Queen’s example’: Mike Tindall urges politicians to learn from monarch who did ‘everything by the book’ as she sat alone at Philip’s funeral
- Mike Tindall said politicians should follow the Queen’s example on Covid rules
- He said her sitting alone at Philip’s funeral showed her leadership and resolve
- The rugby legend – who is effectively her grandson-in-law – praised monarch
- He added politicians accused of breaking Covid rules should look to her
Mike Tindall has slammed politicians for breaking Covid-19 rules last year – saying they should take a leaf out of the Queen’s book on setting examples for the country.
Former England rugby star Tindall – who is married to the monarch’s eldest granddaughter Zara – said she proved she is an expert in doing things ‘by the book’.
The image of the Queen sitting at her husband the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral alone in April earlier this year was one of the most poignant of the pandemic.
She forced to grieve alone at the ceremony due to coronavirus rules at the time forbidding households from mixing.
Tindall, 43, encouraged politicians to ‘learn from her’ instead of breaking Coronavirus restrictions they imposed at around the same time as the Duke’s funeral.
Boris Johnson and his government are currently mired in scandal over a number of Christmas parties held at No 10 and other locations.
This heartbreaking picture of the Queen showed her forced to grieve alone by Covid rules
Mike Tindall said politicians should follow the example set by her in following the restrictions
Boris Johnson and his government are currently mired in parties and sleaze scandal claims
Speaking on podcast The Good, The Bad & The Rugby, father-of-three Tindall said: ‘She just sets examples for everyone, you know?
‘She’s just a fantastic human being and what she’s had to endure through her whole life is a credit to who she is and what she does for the nation.
‘I mean, you look at what she did in terms of setting examples at the Duke’s funeral; sat on her own, did everything by the book and exposed herself like that.
‘That is what needed to be done in the country at that time.
‘Who knew that, whilst she was doing that, politicians were doing everything that they were doing.
‘They should maybe learn from her.’
Covid rules meant the Queen did not mix with other households at her husband Philip’s funeral
Boris Johnson and staff pictured with wine in Downing Street garden in May 2020, during the first national lockdown
Tindall, who won 75 caps in 11 years playing for the national side, added he still gets ‘nervous’ in front of the Queen, though he’s ‘more comfortable’ now than he used to be.
‘I did get sweaty palms when I first met the Queen,’ he said. ‘I think anyone would.
‘She’s such a legend of a lady that I still get nervous now, when I see her.. I’m way more comfortable now, but, it’s been a journey.’
Tindall played 289 times as an outside-centre over 17 years for rugby union sides Bath and Gloucester, scoring 270 points.
He was also member of the English squad which won the 2003 World Cup and scored 75 points for his country.
Mike and Zara Tindall, 40, married in 2011 at Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh, and have three children – seven year old Mia, three year old Lena and nine month old Lucas – together.
Zara Tindall is an equestrian and a sportsperson in her own right – having won a silver Olympic medal at the London 2012 Games as a member of the Great Britain Eventing Team.
She is the daughter of 71-year-old Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, and equestrian Mark Phillips, who Anne later divorced in 1992.
Mr Johnson and his government are under increasing pressure over reports of a number of lockdown-breaking parties at Downing Street and other venues.
At the time there were strict rules against socialising and many grieving families have spoken of how they missed being with their loved ones’ during their final days, obeying these regulations.
Opinion polls have shown support for the Prime Minister has ebbed away over the perception of him and his government.
No 10 has insisted rules were followed, despite a tranche of photos, video and details which appear to show the opposite.
He’s lost the room! Darts fans sing ‘Stand up if you hate Boris’ in unison at the World Championships while football fans chant expletives about him as the fallout from the No10 Christmas party rows continues
Sports fans across the country are letting Boris Johnson know how they feel with hostile songs and chants as fallout from the No10 Christmas party rows continues.
Fans could be heard singing ‘stand up if you hate Boris’ in unison at the 2022 World Darts Championship at a packed Alexandra Palace in north London on Monday evening.
A fan in the crowd was spotted holding a sign which read ‘all round to Boris’s after’ – reference to the Christmas party rows that continue to rumble on.
Meanwhile, at the Premier League clash between Leeds United and Arsenal on Saturday, the stands were full of fans singing ‘Boris Johnson is a c**t’ repeatedly in videos shared across social media.
The video, which has been viewed more than 750,000 times on Twitter, shows supporters at the Elland Road stadium in Leeds clapping while they chant the explicit words during Leeds’ 4-1 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday.
Fans at the World Darts Championship held in London on Monday night could be heard singing ‘Stan up if you hate Boris’ in unison days after football fans were heard chanting expletives
Fans could be heard chanting the anti-Boris song at Alexandra Palace on Monday (pictured)
The anti-Boris sentiments come mid mounting pressure facing the Prime Minister over a series of scandals in recent weeks.
The latest crisis facing the Government is the backlash over a leaked photo which shows the Prime Minister and his wife Carrie sitting at a table with two people while another 13 had bottles of alcohol nearby at a table and on the lawn on Friday May 15, 2020.
At the time – Friday May 15, 2020 – only two people were allowed to socialise outside while socially distanced.
Downing Street has refused to apologised, instead insisting it was not a social event, and claimed staff were working in the garden in the afternoon and evening.
Those pictured apparently included some of Mr Johnson’s top team – such as principal private secretary Martin Reynolds, former health secretary Matt Hancock and Dominic Cummings.
It is the latest in a ‘partygate’ row over celebrations inside No 10, with Downing Street accused of holding four parties that broke Covid restrictions last year.
Mr Johnson was forced to order a civil service enquiry, but the civil servant he chose to lead the inquiry quit after it emerged a quiz was held in his own department that he was aware of and spoke at.
The Prime Minister suffered another hammer blow on Sunday after his ally Lord Frost dramatically quit as Brexit Minister slating Covid curbs and high taxes.
Downing Street has now been accused of holding five parties over lockdown, including a quiz attended by dozens of staff and which the Prime Minister helped to host on December 15 – three days before another Christmas party which is being investigated.
No10 previously insisted that Downing Street were ‘often required to be in the office to work on the pandemic response’ during the various lockdowns, and therefore ‘those who were in the office for work may have attended virtually from their desks’.
But the Mirror said a message sent by No10’s head of HR on the night of the quiz advised that those who had stayed behind to take part ‘go out the back’ when they left.
Mr Johnson said an inquiry would be held to investigate the allegations. But Cabinet Secretary Simon Case quit his role leading the inquiry into a number of alleged gatherings on Friday, after it emerged a quiz was held in his own department that he was aware of and spoke at.
MailOnline understands that one event was held on December 17 last year, with an email sent out to around 15 people in Mr Case’s Private Office titled ‘Christmas Quiz’.
Whitehall heavy hitter Sue Gray has been installed in his place to carry out inquiries into three alleged gatherings at Downing Street and the Department for Education in November and December last year, when indoor mixing was banned.
The terms of what was then Mr Case’s investigation said it could be widened to include any relevant allegations.
The damaging scandal has been blamed for the Tories’ disastrous loss in the North Shropshire by-election last Thursday.
Speaking to reporters on a visit in his Uxbridge constituency today, Mr Johnson insisted the public was more interested in other matters such as coronavirus, and suggested the media reporting on lockdown-busting parties had caused the Tories to lose the North Shropshire by-election.
He told broadcasters ‘what people have been hearing is just a constant litany of stuff about politics and politicians and stuff that isn’t about them’.
The Conservatives suffered a humiliating defeat in the North Shropshire by-election caused by the resignation of Owen Paterson amid the lobbying scandal and were beaten by the Lib Dems
The Lib Dems achieved a 34 percentage point swing that wiped out Owen Paterson’s 23,000 advantage at the 2019 election and deliver victory by nearly 6,000 votes.
The stunning turnaround came despite the Tories fielding a candidate, Neil Shastri-Hurst, with good credentials who was regarded as having performed respectably.
Meanwhile, the Lib Dems put up Helen Morgan, a strident Remainer, to fight a seat that voted enthusiastically for Brexit in 2016.
The cause of the by-election was far from ideal, having been triggered by the resignation of Owen Paterson after Boris Johnson mounted an abortive attempt to save him from punishment for lobbying.
Earlier this month, the Conservatives were fined £17,800 over a controversial donation which helped cover the lavish refurbishments to the Prime Minister’s Downing Street flat.
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