Gogglebox cast reacts to Partygate details on Panorama

The cast of Gogglebox has condemned further evidence of rule-breaking in Downing Street and Whitehall during the coronavirus pandemic. The Channel 4 armchair critics were reacted to a BBC Panorama investigation in which No 10 whistleblowers claimed to expose the extent of illegal partying at the heart of government.

Watching clips from Laura Kuenssberg’s documentary, Tom Malone Snr described a double standard. He said: “There were people that couldn’t see their families in care homes or couldn’t go with someone that was dying while they were on Friday night benders”.

Pete Sandiford added: “Just when Boris [Johnson] thought he was out of the mire, he’s been dragged straight back in.”

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Insiders speaking anonymously to Panorama said they sometimes arrived at No 10 to find bins overflowing with empty bottles from parties. Another claimed that a gathering attended at one point by the Prime Minister was so cramped that some people were forced to sit on each other’s laps.

It came in the week senior civil servant Sue Gray published her long-awaited report into Partygate. The document included images released days earlier by ITV News showing Boris Johnson raising a toast at an event in Downing Street.

Reacting to the photographs, George Worthington said: “My sister was in a care home and we had to stand outside and wave at her through the window when he was at this party. She died in January. This dollop was having a party. If he’s [Johnson’s] attended then he has condoned it.”

Ellie Warner commented: “If he were bothered about rule-breaking he’d walk in and go ‘hey, what’s going on here? Pack up and go home’.”

Other programmes reviewed by the armchair critics included Hunted, Bake Off: The Professionals, Made in Chelsea, Love in the Jungle, Top of the Pops 1992, Dickinson’s Real Deal and Britain’s Got Talent. Gogglebox is expected to return for series 20 later in the year.

Gogglebox is available to watch on catch-up on All4.