West Lothian schoolgirl, 9, pens open letter to Boris Johnson on Downing Street parties

A 9-year-old girl from West Lothian has written an open letter to Boris Johnson, telling him that he ‘is not fit to lead the country’.

Neive Williams penned the letter on Monday at her grandparents’ house, after she’d seen a segment on the news about the parties held in Downing Street during lockdown.

After witnessing the schoolgirl’s anger, her gran Karen told her to write a letter to the Prime Minister, which she promised to post to him.

In the letter, Neive wrote: “I wish you no forgiveness as me and my family where [sic] miserable during covid 19 isolation, but stuck to the rules and never once broke them”.

"And you, you’ve been going to parties even though you have made those rules and not listened to them”.

“I hope you are sorry. But you are not.

“You just don’t want to get in any trouble”.

Neive Williams (R) has written a letter to Boris Johnson (L), telling the Prime Minister that she will not forgive him for his actions.

In the letter, Neive echoed the calls of many politicians who have told Johnson to resign. She wrote: “You are not fit to lead the country and someone more sensible should do it”.

Like many members of the public, the 9-year-old appeared hesitant to accept the Prime Minister’s apologies, as she said: “no words can make me forgive you”.

She ended the letter on a stern note, by writing: "Don’t bother saying sorry, please it has been done and you have betrayed us all and remember that”.

Neive’s mum Jenna said she understands why her daughter was so upset by the reports that Boris Johnson attended rule-breaking parties.

Jenna said: “During lockdown, she wasn’t allowed to see her grandparents.

"She found it so hard, because she’s used to staying at their house all the time”.

While this is the first time the 9-year-old has written to the Prime Minister, Jenna was not surprised when she read the long and passionate letter.

According to her, Neive loves “anything to do with writing” and wants to be a storybook writer when she grows up.

Neive’s letter was penned shortly after Sue Gray, a senior civil servant, published an update on her official inquiry in Downing Street gatherings.

In the document, Gray wrote that: “a number of these gatherings should not have been allowed to take place or to develop in the way that they did”.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.