Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Should Cummings be going? Kent’s MPS have their say
Kent MPS have this week been asked for their views on the ongoing political row which threatens to undermine the Government’s approach to tackling the coronavirus pandemic. With arguments still raging about the decision of chief political adviser Dominic Cummings to embark on a 260 mile journey from his London home to Durham during lockdown, a number of the county’s MPS have expressed their disquiet at his actions.
The Prime Minister’s most senior aide also took a 60-mile round trip on his wife’s birthday which he says he undertook to test whether his eyesight was good enough to drive.
In an unusual move, Mr Cummings gave a press conference on Monday in which he said he believed he acted reasonably and within the law.
His defence secured the support of Boris Johnson who told the public the previous day that Mr Cummings had followed a ‘father’s instinct’ and acted ‘responsibly, legally and with integrity’ when he travelled with his wife and son. Since revelations of the road trip emerged, at least one minister has quit amid mounting backbench anger over the actions, and reaction, of the unelected adviser who helped shape the country’s response to Covid-19 which included travel restrictions.
Ashford Damian Green
“I have received several hundred emails on the subject, the overwhelming majority of them hostile to his actions. I have waited to respond until now because I thought there were still some facts to come out, and this was proved to be correct at his press conference on Monday afternoon. It would have been much better if he had spoken openly and in detail on Friday. “The first thing to say is that I have expressed my own displeasure, and the anger of many of those who wrote to me, both to the Chief Whip and to Cabinet Ministers. No one at the top of government can be unaware of the widespread public anger at Dominic Cummings’ actions.
Many of the individual points put in emails to me have been relayed to senior Ministers. “I should say that I felt more understanding of his behaviour after the press conference. In particular, the fact that his fouryear-old son spent a night in hospital must have been a terrible source of worry. Nevertheless my main concern, even beyond the details of the story such as the drive to Barnard Castle to test his eyesight, is the effect of his travelling to Durham on the behaviour of others.
“We all know that some families have suffered appallingly during the lockdown, not just losing relatives but being unable to comfort them at the end. For many more there has been the pain of long-term separation from close family members. It is possible to put up with this if we all accept that we are in the same boat. A combination of Dominic Cummings’ actions and the way they were reported has clearly damaged that sense of solidarity.
“The key task now is to make sure that the damage to our sense of national solidarity does not make the easing of the lockdown chaotic, as it will be if people decide that the rules do not apply at all. My main focus now is not on individuals - I have expressed my views (and your views) and it is for others to decide. I want us to come safely out of lockdown as quickly as possible, so that we can save livelihoods as well as lives.”
Canterbury Rosie Duffield
“I have received hundreds of emails on the subject of Dominic Cummings, mostly people relating stories about their own personal family sacrifice, their distress at not being able to see ill or dying family members, visit their parents, hug their grandchildren or be with others in times of loneliness and grief. “I completely understand their hurt and frustration given the revelations of the last week and the many questions that remain unanswered by the Government. “There is also the fact that this news story has been allowed to overshadow the important public health message we all need; the fact that this Prime Minister has let the poor communication and decision-making of one individual cloud the vital messages on keeping safe during this pandemic is a failure of effective government.”
Chatham and Aylesford Tracey Crouch
“My team and I have worked like Trojans since the start of lockdown to try and give the correct interpretation of guidancetoconstituents. Therehave been heartbreaking electronic communications. I have had to tell people they can’t go to funerals, say goodbye to the ones they
love, see the family newborns that they will grow to love, visit the graves of parents, siblings or worse, children, and visit friends who are dying.
“I have had to give explicit advice on how to pick up children from university, repatriated family members from airports, how to care for a family member with a mental health condition, check in on elderly relatives with dementia. I have given advice on support for businesses that may never operate again, to people whose holidays might not get refunded, to those whose perfect wedding days plans have been ruined. So when a row like this rages it makes me as your MP put my head on my table and want to cry. “Everyone’s lives have been turned upside down so we can fight this pandemic and keep capacity in the NHS and even though I point back to my first paragraph of “in defence” I can fully understand the anger of my constituents. “Should Dominic resign or be sacked? This is not for me to say. I don’t really subscribe to the lynch mob, now or at any time, in part because I don’t think I would like the world to decide whether a member of my extremely loyal and able team should be sacked. I am pretty peed off though. At a time when we should be still focusing on the remaining weeks of this pandemic, spending my days replying to understandably cross and angry constituents is not what I should be doing.
“And this is also why I feel impotent in many respects. Lockdown is not over yet. I have to keep interpreting guidance and saying to constituents you can or you cannot do x, y, z. At the moment that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.”
Faversham and Mid-kent Helen Whately
“Dom Cummings has answered extensive questions about how he stayed within guidance and exercised his best judgement to care for his child; now let’s get on with what matters like saving lives, getting the economy going again and beating.”
Folkestone and Hythe Damian Collins
“As a father myself, I know that you always seek to act in the best interests of your children when making decisions about the welfare of your family. However, as a result of the restrictions that were put in place following the introduction of the COVID-19 lockdown, we are not in a position where we can just act on instinct, instead we have to make decisions based on the rules that have been created to stop the spread of this deadly virus.
“I believe that the guidance given to ‘stay at home’ was clear, and that deciding to drive his family from London to Durham so that they could self-isolate at his parent’s farm was against the intention of the rules of the lockdown. Indeed, as the former Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police has stated, had Dominic Cummings been stopped by the police whilst making this journey he would almost certainly have been told to go back to London. Also, whatever the reason behind his trip to Barnard Castle, that was also in breach of the lockdown rules. “Dominic Cummings should have taken advice, and informed either the Prime Minister or senior staff at 10 Downing Street, before acting in this way. He did neither. Given the difficulties we have all experienced during the lockdown, I believe it would have been reasonable to have expected that he would have sought to isolate with his family in London and make the same kind of support arrangements that other families have had to make at this time.
“It would have been better if Mr Cummings had explained his actions sooner and apologised. His failure to do this has damaged his position and it would now be best for the government and the country if he resigned.”
North Thanet Sir Roger Gale
“While as a father and as a grandfather I fully appreciate Mr Cummings’ desire to protect his child, there cannot be one law for the Prime Minister’s staff and another for everyone else. He has sent out completely the wrong message and his position is no longer tenable.”
Sittingbourne and Sheppey Gordon Henderson
“This is a matter for Mr Cummings and the Prime Minister. I have received a large number of emails, most criticising Mr Cummings, but some supporting him. Each email will receive a response from me.”
Tonbridge and Malling Tom Tugendhat
“We know this pandemic affects our whole community, whoever you are. Anyone can carry the virus, anyone can succumb to it, and though some are more vulnerable than others, we’re all responsible for each other at a time like this. That’s why, although I can appreciate the pressures that led to Mr Cummings leaving for Durham, I share the frustration of so many.”