Two Liverpool Labour Councillors have responded to images showing them appearing to flout the COVID-19 lockdown rules at their home with insistence that they had NOT organised a party.
The photo showing the council’s cabinet member for children’s services Councillor Barry Kushner and his wife, Councillor Joann Kushner relaxing at their posh home in Allerton.
While the people who have suddenly gathered on the grass next to the Kushner’s home do at least appear to be socially-distanced, questions have been asked as to how this behaviour fits with rules which clearly say you should NOT meet up with friends and family during the coronavirus lockdown.
In the picture, Councillor Barry Kushner can be seen manning the barbecue in the far corner of the picture, while Councillor Joann Kushner sits on the grass nearby, with a total of TEN people in the gathering. It is understood that some of the Councillors’ family members travelled from around 15 miles away to attend.
When asked to explain, the Labour councillors asserted that despite appearances this was NOT an organised gathering. Several different family members who do not live at the property apparently all just turned up at the same time unannounced.
Councillor Barry Kushner said: “Joann’s mum and dad decided to turn up and brought their own chairs with them. We were already having a barbecue at the time. We did tell them that we weren’t supposed to be gathering together and they weren’t here for very long.”
He added that just co-incidentally, around the same time his eldest daughter and her children arrived at his house, also ‘independently.’ “It wasn’t an organised party,” he said, “and they didn’t come in the house. They’ve parked their cars and walked up to the grass.”
“I know it looks like we were holding a party but we weren’t, its difficult to say no and tell relatives to go away, but they weren’t here for long.”
His wife, Councillor Joann Kushner claimed the couple had been working hard to protect vulnerable people in the Croxteth and Norris Green wards that they represent during the crisis. She said: “From the start we have both been doing lots of work to make sure people in in the communities we represent have access to laptops and have enough food throughout this crisis.”
“But there comes a point where we have to think about our own families, we have the same worries and problems as other people.”
“Its sad that people are trying to bring us down when we have been working hard to help others.”
A neighbour of the Kushners told media representatives that he thought it was hypocritical for Councillor Kushner to have been pushing out messages about following the rules to then to appear to flout them himself. The behaviour certainly seems, on the face of it, to be similar to that of Boris Johnson’s Cabinet Members and top civil servants who have been caught out travelling to second homes and family members during the lock down.
Earlier this month, Cllr Kushner retweeted a video from Mayor Joe Anderson calling on people to follow the COVID lockdown guidelines STRICTLY.
The neighbour said: “It is wrong and hypocritical for them to post retweets calling people who breach the lockdown an insult to the city’s coronavirus victims and then breaching it themselves. I have a close family member who works in the NHS and I am appalled by this blatant breach.”
OTS News on Social Media