Darts fans took aim at Boris Johnson at the sport’s biggest event with hostile chants and signs mocking the Government over alleged lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street.
Crowds were heard shouting: “Stand up if you hate Boris” in unison as they packed out Alexandra Palace in London at the 2022 PDC World Darts Championship on Monday.
One spectator held up a picture of cheese and wine with the message: “This is a business meeting”, while another waved a sign reading: “All round to Boris’s after.”
Many fans dressed in costumes for the event, including a group wearing masks that showed the faces of Mr Johnson, Home Secretary Priti Patel, former Downing Street aide Dominic Cummings and the ex-health secretary Matt Hancock.
Negative chants about the Prime Minister were later heard in videos widely shared on social media, during the match between James Wade and Maik Kuivenhoven.
It came after a photograph emerged of Mr Johnson, his staff and his then-fiancee, Carrie Johnson, sitting round a table with cheese and wine in the No 10 garden during the first national lockdown.
The picture, which Downing Street said shows a work meeting, has sparked further accusations of parties being held across Whitehall during periods when London was under tight Covid restrictions on social gatherings.
Public health experts have warned that the tournament, which is expected to draw more than 80,000 attendees between Wednesday December 15 and Monday January 3, is “Covid spreading on steroids”.
Professor Keith Neil, a public health expert at the University of Nottingham, said the event risks worsening the spread of the virus in the capital.
Read More
“It is Covid spreading on steroids,” he said. “There is no concept of social distancing and they will not be wearing masks because they are drinking.”
Organisers of the tournament have confirmed that fans must show an NHS Covid pass demonstrating their Covid status in order to gain entry to the venue.
Earlier on Monday, the Prime Minister was accused of “ducking difficult decisions” after he held back from tightening Covid rules before Christmas despite fears the NHS could be overwhelmed.
