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News
Louis Staples
May 23, 2020
Are you waking up this today thinking ‘I wonder what I missed in UK politics last night?’
Well, even if you weren’t and have one of those things called “a life”, the answer is: a whole lot of drama.
What happened?
To cut a long story short, a joint investigation by the Guardian and the Mirroris alleging that Boris Johnson’s senior adviser Dominic Cummings, the mastermind behind the Brexit campaign and the PM’s 2019 election victory, broke lockdown by travelling to Durham to stay with his parents. Cummings apparently made the 264-mile trip from his London home after the PM, who he was in close contact with, was diagnosed with Covid-19. Cummings also isolated with symptoms.
He isn't denying he was staying in Durham, but there’s a bit of a back-and-forth going on about whether Cummings “broke lockdown”. He’s saying (or a “source” close to him is insisting) he didn’t, but many, many people think he did.
He’s also denying that he was spoken to by police, but Durham Constabulary have confirmed they spoke to the owner of the home he was staying in (presumably his parents, so a bit of a technicality there).
Anyway, the fact that Cummings is even being accused of breaking lockdown rules has caused a lot of drama online.
He’s a polarising figure at the best of times, but it seems fairly outrageous that the man advising the PM could have potentially behaved this way.
Medical advisers in Scotland and England (Catherine Calderwood and Neil Ferguson) were forced to resign after being caught breaching lockdown rules, so there’s a huge number of people calling for Cummings’ resignation right now.
From journalists to MPs and “ordinary” people there’s a very long list of people who think Cummings must be sacked or resign.
Here’s a very small sample…
Following the news that Dominic Cummings travelled from London to Durham during lockdown and his behaviour was inve… https://t.co/qqgAtxN6B2— Ian Blackford (@Ian Blackford) 1590180135
If Dominic Cummings has broken the lockdown guidelines he will have to resign. It’s as simple as that. https://t.co/4kiFOImm6f— Ed Davey MP 🔶 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Ed Davey MP 🔶 🇬🇧 🇪🇺) 1590176316
Dominic Cummings travelled approx 32,386 fridges from his home during lockdown and he must resign immediately.— Kirsty Strickland (@Kirsty Strickland) 1590177128
With the Catherine Calderwood principle now established: a) Dominic Cummings has to resign; b) If he doesn't Boris… https://t.co/OxkU49fKlJ— Gerry Hassan (@Gerry Hassan) 1590176243
“It is the case that his position is totally untenable and he needs to resign or Boris Johnson needs to step up to… https://t.co/3bAxAxsUIE— BBC Newsnight (@BBC Newsnight) 1590190915
As clear cut a case that demands instant resignation as I have ever seen in public life https://t.co/eH66VCljkg— Tim Shipman (@Tim Shipman) 1586083839
If Boris Johnson doesn’t sack Cummings, his message to the country is “one rule for the elite, another for you”. https://t.co/8t7YHoGf1O— Nadia Whittome MP (@Nadia Whittome MP) 1590179810
It wasn’t simply that Cummings was in lockdown, he was in quarantine after displaying symptoms. If he doesn’t go… https://t.co/9FCTJCSUJK— Jonathan Bartley (@Jonathan Bartley) 1590221951
So, Boris Johnson’s right hand man Dominic Cummings broke lockdown to go to his parents’ house 100s of miles away..… https://t.co/6EgsccN1jA— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1590175278
A source close to Cummings is saying (in a tone that sounds extremely like Cummings…) that the story is “fake news”, even if he’s not denying he was in Durham, so we’re not sure precisely which bits he objects to.
Regardless, it doesn’t look like this story is going anywhere, so prepare for a bumpy ride.