Katy Mackintosh’s husband Iain was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in July 2019 and died less than a year later in June 2020.

Investigations are under way into alleged lockdown breaches by the Prime Minister at the same time as members of the public the length and breadth of the country were facing lockdown restrictions.

Dunbar mum-of-two Katy told the Courier how the recent revelations had “absolutely broken me for a few weeks”.

She said: “In the first week or so it started coming out, it made my grief horrendous, absolutely horrendous, and it was galling.

“Then that moved into just anger – anger at the Prime Minister.”

Following accusations that the Prime Minister had breached lockdown restrictions, Katy wrote an open letter to him.

Katy Mackintosh has recorded a scathing letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson following the death of her husband Iain (pictured). Picture: Rob McDougall

That has now been made into a three-minute video, filmed at Belhaven.

In the letter, she said: “It seems those Covid rules were too complex for you to understand.”

“Those rules, which were not beyond the general populace, were repeatedly beyond you and your staff, and now you play down the fury that we direct towards you.

“So, forgive me if I explain simply how our nation feels.

“My story is representative of many.

“As you partied, having jollies on the lawn, turning that ever-blind eye of yours over the proceedings, I can tell you what I was doing.

“As you signed off those rules, I signed a do not resuscitate order for my husband as he was decanted with stage four cancer and Covid symptoms from his hospital bed in Edinburgh to the local community hospital here in East Lothian. I lost sleep over who he might infect.

“As your staff wheeled in their drinks concealed in the party suitcase, I was exchanging my husband’s laundry at the ward door unable to visit.

“As you laughed with your colleagues, my young children and I held up signs of love in the street to a daddy we could not even spot through the tinted glass on an upper storey of the hospital.

“As your colleagues chatted, I took advice on how to tell our four and eight-year-old boys that their daddy would never come home.

“As you stood with your partner, I was becoming a widow with no support.

“As you wave goodbye, my husband was dying alone to help save the lives of others.

“I was telling people they could not come and pay their last respects to a man they greatly loved.

“As you made the most of the weather, buffoons like you offered their elbows in some farcical show of condolence. Tell me, did you do the same for the Queen?

“I’m not alone in reliving the searing pain of sacrifices made by both those living and dead.

“While you bat off scandal after scandal, there are hundreds of thousands of people here crippled by these memories and their grief.

“You dismiss every one of us with your lack of responsibility or shame. Every NHS employee will be wondering why they even bothered enforcing the cruel rules that you chose to ignore.

“Do they regret those sacrifices they made to care for you? Can you even comprehend what regret is?

“We are ashamed to have you lead our country. Get out Boris, you despicable man. For once in your life do the right thing.”

The couple, who have two sons, now aged six and 10, previously worked as civil servants.

Now, Katy is busy setting up her own self-catering business out of a chalet at nearby Belhaven.

She described her husband, 48, as “a big, soft lump” and added: “He was a big gentleman of a guy.

“He was musical and played the guitar and did a bit of singing, played the ukulele and the bass guitar. He liked to play at ‘The Volleys’ in Dunbar and go down there.”

Katy was full of praise for staff at the East Lothian Community Hospital in Haddington and also for the community.

Thousands of pounds were raised to buy ‘Mack the Truck’, a special bench at Hallhill Sports Centre (pictured below).

Katy added: “It was lovely, after the stark contrast of being in lockdown, to feel people were rallying round, virtually, having been very, very isolated through lockdown. It gave back a sense of community.”

The Prime Minister offered his apologies during a statement to the House of Commons on Monday.

He said: “Sorry for the things we simply did not get right and sorry for the way that this matter has been handled.

“It is no use saying that this or that was within the rules. It is no use saying that people were working hard. This pandemic was hard for everyone.

“We asked people across this country to make the most extraordinary sacrifices, not to meet loved ones, not to visit relatives before they died, and I understand the anger that people feel.

“It is not enough to say sorry. This is a moment when we must look at ourselves in the mirror and we must learn.”

Time to go, Boris, say local politicians

Kenny MacAskill (ALBA), East Lothian’s MP, said of Katy’s letter: “It’s heart-rending and adds to the crescendo of voices who suffered loss and hardship during lockdown and speaking out against the Prime Minister. Boris Johnson and his ilk are behaving like Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette, mocking ordinary people in their misery. It’s time for him to go.”

Paul McLennan (SNP), East Lothian’s MSP, was “devastated to hear Katy’s testimony”.

He said: “In her grieving for her husband Iain, she summed up generously what so many have been feeling.

“I hear stories like hers in communication with constituents regularly.

“All these stories are unique to each family, but so many share the heartbreaking fact that those final moments – so precious to those who have lost a loved one – were spent behind a screen, or through a window, or missed entirely. All of these burdens were borne with the aim of caring for our communities.

“The revelations that those who govern us showed no such similar care is devastating.

“I thank Katy for her testimony, and encourage everyone to hear her voice, especially all those responsible for the hypocrisy we have discovered over recent weeks. They must also listen, then do the right thing.”

Craig Hoy (Con), South Scotland MSP, said: “In East Lothian, people made enormous sacrifices during the pandemic and I share their anger at the latest revelations.

“By his own admission, the Prime Minister broke the rules his Government made at a time when the public were unable to meet with family and friends or even attend funerals for their loved ones. People are rightly angry that the rules that they were following were not being followed by those at the top.

“That is why Douglas Ross has called for the Prime Minister to resign over his behaviour.”

Fellow South Scotland MSP Martin Whitfield (Lab) said: “What Katy and her family went through is tragic and my heart goes out to them.

“She has powerfully articulated the anger and disgust felt by so many people at the actions of the Prime Minister and his aides.

“Boris Johnson has lied to the nation and presided over a highly inappropriate and unacceptable workplace culture at a time of extreme hardship for the UK and the millions of people who followed the rules, often at great personal sacrifice.

“He is not fit to continue as Prime Minister and should resign now for the good of the country.”