Minister quits as anger within Tory ranks grows over Cummings furore
BORIS Johnson is facing Tory fury over the actions of his senior aide Dominic Cummings, with one minister quitting in protest at the adviser remaining in his Number 10 post.
Douglas Ross, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for Scotland, said yesterday that he could not remain in government after hearing Mr Cummings’ efforts to defend his trip from London to Durham despite the coronavirus lockdown.
Dozens of Conservative MPS have said Mr Cummings should go despite ministers seeking to protect the controversial adviser.
Efforts to defend Mr Cummings’ actions even led Health Secretary Matt Hancock to indicate that fines levied on parents flouting lockdown rules due to childcare concerns could be reviewed.
In his resignation statement Mr Ross, the MP for Moray, said: “I have constituents who didn’t get to say goodbye to loved ones; families who could not mourn together; people who didn’t visit sick relatives because they followed the guidance of the Government.
“I cannot in good faith tell them they were all wrong and
ANY potential review of fines imposed on families travelling for childcare during lockdown would be a “scandalous waste of time and money” which will require a retrospective change in the law, a former chief prosecutor has said.
It comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock pledged to speak to the Treasury about whether penalty fines issued for that situation should be reviewed in the wake of the Dominic Cummings row.
Nazir Afzal, the former chief prosecutor for north-west England, said an “inordinate amount of time has been spent enforcing the restrictions” and reviewing penalties would come at a high cost to police time and resources.
He said: “There is no process by which a review could take one senior adviser to the Government was right.”
Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw added his voice to those of dozens of Tory MPS who called for the aide to quit or be sacked by the Prime Minister.
Downing Street insisted the PM had not split the Government by backing Mr Cummings.
But Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick told BBC Radio 2 that his own postbag showed “many people still disagree” with Mr Cummings’ actions.
Critics accused Mr Cummings of undermining the Government’s efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus, an illness which has so far been linked to more than 47,300 deaths in the UK.
Mr Cummings said he had place, there would have to be a retrospective change in the law which would enable these penalty fines to be reviewed.”
Mr Afzal also said if he was a lawyer defending someone who had allegedly breached the lockdown, he would be currently printing off tweets from Government figures defending Mr Cummings and “I would be using that in my defence for every single case brought before the court”.
“It could be the ‘do a Dom’ defence”, he added.
Mr Afzal also suggested the furore over the top Downing Street adviser risked undermining public confidence and public health, driven to Durham to isolate in a property on his father’s farm because of concerns over who would care for his four-year-old son if both he and his wife were incapacitated by Covid-19.
At the Downing Street press conference Mr Hancock was asked by a religious minister whether the Government would now review all penalty fines imposed on families travelling for childcare purposes during lockdown.
Mr Hancock said getting adequate childcare “is one of the significant concerns that we have had all the way through this”.
“And so, I think, especially, coming from a man of the cloth, I think that is perfectly reasonable to take away that question,” he continued.
“I’ll have to talk to my Treasury colleagues before I can answer it in full.”
Mr Hancock vowed to give a “full answer” in writing and promised to make an announcement on the issue at a future press conference.
Speaking after the press conference, Reverend Martin Poole from Brighton, who asked the question, said: “It wasn’t much of an answer was it?
“I understand that Matt Hancock wouldn’t have the information at his fingertips and I hope they do look into it and come adding: “We rely on people to comply, and why should they?”
The Treasury has been contacted for comment. back with a response.” Tory MPS confronted with angry correspondence from constituents over the weekend made clear their views on the row, with at least 27 calling for Mr Cummings to go.
Former Attorney General Jeremy Wright called for Mr Cummings to quit, saying his actions may technically have been within the rules, but efforts to combat Covid-19 had been due to “people accepting wholeheartedly not just the letter of the restrictions that have been set out, but also their spirit”.
Former chief whip Mark Harper said Mr Cummings “should have offered to resign, and the Prime Minister should
Meanwhile, a lawyer has warned that the reasons Mr Cummings gave for his alleged breach of lockdown rules could have accepted his resignation”. MPS from the 2019 intake — who owe their positions in part to the campaign Mr Cummings helped run — also called for him to face the consequences of his actions.
Simon Jupp said he felt “anger, disappointment and frustration” and suggested Mr Cummings should consider his position. Craig Whittaker said he should be reprimanded and Elliot Colburn called for him to resign for undermining the Government’s message on controlling the spread of the virus.
In an extraordinary press conference in Downing Street’s garden on Monday, Mr Cummings argued that his journey to Durham be used “endlessly” in court to debate what constitutes a reasonable excuse.
Raj Chada, head of the criminal defence department and a partner at firm Hodge Jones and Allen, said explanations given by Mr Cummings would not set any formal precedent and would not mean people could automatically appeal against fines or convictions, but reiterated concerns that the regulations put in place are “vague” and “subject to challenge”.
He said: “However, it will be used in court endlessly about what ‘reasonable excuse’ constitutes. A client will say in court, ‘I
in March was justified as he sought to protect his family’s health. But many questions remained unanswered, including over his subsequent drive to Barnard Castle which he said was to test his eyesight after it was affected when he became unwell, after his wife developed symptoms of Covid-19.
Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said the journey, some 25 miles from where the aide was isolating, was “completely appropriate” because he was “preparing to return to work” by checking he was safe to drive the long trip back to London.
Former Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Sir Peter
had childcare difficulties just like Dominic Cummings.’
“I think that it means that the police are going to be very cautious about issuing fixed penalty notices, that clients are going to contest and that could result in more trials about ‘what is a reasonable excuse’.”
Kirsty Brimelow QC, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, said the enforcement of lockdown laws in the UK required a “degree of cooperation”, adding: “There also is a social contract where people respect and trust the institutions that had made the law.”
But she told PA: “The difficulty is when that trust breaks down, people no longer see why they should play their part.
“The justification put forward by Mr Cummings for breaching the Government’s own guidance — of which there is no doubt — undermines trust.”