Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief strategist, Dominic Cummings, is back in the headlines for the wrong reasons, this time for allegedly breaking the UK’s coronavirus-related lockdown rules. Cummings has come under intense fire after it was revealed he had traveled 260 miles from London to Durham during the strictest phase of the UK lockdown.
In fact, there are now growing calls for the PM’s key adviser to resign after it emerged he left his home in the capital with his wife and son to stay with his elderly parents in the north east of England, even after he had shown symptoms consistent with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
The main opposition Labour party and the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) claim Cummings flouted the government’s guidance on the lockdown – where non-essential traveled was banned – and as a consequence they are calling for an urgent inquiry into the chief strategist’s conduct.
For his part, Cummings insists he “obviously” will not be resigning as Johnson’s main adviser and strategist.
When challenged by the media, the abrasive Cummings maintained that he had “behaved reasonably and legally” by traveling long distance during the lockdown even when he was clearly displaying COVID-19 symptoms.
When asked by reporters if his trip looked good, the combative Cummings exclaimed: “Who cares about good looks? It’s a question of doing the right thing … It’s not about what you guys [in the media] think”.
Hitherto, government heavy weights, including the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and cabinet office minister, Michael Gove, have come out in support of Cummings, denying he had violated the lockdown.
But leading British journalists, relying on police sources, are claiming that Cummings’ behavior was in breach of lockdown rules.Taking care of your wife and young child is justifiable and reasonable, trying to score political points over it isn’t.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak)
Important line h/t
& from a police source saying the Dominic Cummings travel to Durham (after catching to stay with parents who are both 70+) did not appear to comply with lockdown rules at the time
👇👇👇 — Deborah Haynes (@haynesdeborah)