"It just makes you sad and angry when you hear this."

That was the reaction of a Ryde man to the news of the Downing Street garden party on May 20, 2020...the day his mother was marking her 97th birthday, separated from her family in an East Cowes care home.

On that day, it emerged this week, around 30 Downing Street staff, including Boris Johnson, were enjoying a bring your own drinks party in the garden of the Prime Minister's official residence.

Tony Cook and his sister Dot Hill, wanted desperately to see their mum Dot, in the Kynance Care Home, but the rules meant they could only wave to her from outside her window, far from satisfactory as she was deaf.

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Isle of Wight County Press: Dot, pictured at her care home in East Cowes.Dot, pictured at her care home in East Cowes.

Three months later Dot died, having spent her final months being lovingly cared for at Kynance.

Tony said: "The news the other day with regard to Johnson instantly made me think of those visits.

"It was heartbreaking that we couldn't spend time with my mum when she needed us most but we were following the rules laid down.

"To think those who made the rules were ignoring them just makes you very angry, and sad for the missed time with my mum.

"On her birthday my sister Dot and I visited. luckily it was a sunny day but it was hard to communicate. Those type of visits were all we had after that."

Isle of Wight County Press: Photo: Kynance (Google maps)Photo: Kynance (Google maps)

Commenting on Prime Minister's Questions today, Isle of Wight Labour's Richard Quigley said: " If the Prime Minister was sincere, he could have apologised at any time over the last 18 months.

"He hasn't, he has apologised for being found out, much like our own MP Bob Seely did after his barbecue with Richard Tice, Isobel Oakeshott and Freddie Gray was discovered.

"The rules mattered, they told us they mattered, but as it turns out, they only applied to us, the little people.

"Johnson and Seely have treated us with contempt, contempt that spreads wider than their actions during lockdown.

"I am truly sorry for those that lost someone close to them and couldn't be near them at the end as they followed the rules.

"Rather than hiding behind an enquiry, it is time for the PM to find his moral compass and do the right thing and resign, the same applies to Bob Seely."