Cummings caught in lockdown rule breach
Johnson’s chief adviser faces calls to resign after police investigate his trip to see parents
Gordon Rayner
BORIS JOHNSON faced calls to sack his chief aide Dominic Cummings last night after it emerged he was investigated by police for breaching lockdown rules.
Mr Cummings drove from London to Durham with his wife and son to stay with his elderly parents after developing symptoms of coronavirus. No 10 said at the time that Mr Cummings was “at home” in isolation, when in fact he was more than 260 miles away.
Police in Durham were tipped off by a member of the public about Mr Cummings’ presence at his parents’ house and explained to the family that lockdown rules outlawed such visits.
Last night opposition parties said Mr Cummings’s position was “completely untenable”. However, Mr Johnson appeared ready to stand by his long-time ally, with Government sources insisting Mr Cummings and his wife, who was also ill, had taken “what they believed to be the right decision in the interests of their young child”.
Earlier this month Prof Neil Ferguson quit his role as a government scientific adviser after The Daily Telegraph disclosed that he had broken lockdown rules to meet his mistress.
The revelation around Mr Cummings raises serious questions both for him and for Downing Street.
One minister said: “He’s going have to go. It’s just arrogance.”
Mr Cummings, 48, developed coronavirus symptoms at the end of March and had to self-isolate with his wife Mary Wakefield and their young son for 14 days.
On March 31 the Prime Minister’s spokesman was asked where Mr Cummings was, and said: “I think he’s in touch with No 10 but he is at home, he is self-isolating, he has some symptoms.”
In fact, he was in Durham at the time, as police made clear in a statement following an investigation by the Guardian and Mirror newspapers.
A spokesman for Durham Constabulary confirmed that the force was made aware on March 31 “that an individual had travelled from London to Durham”.
He said officers made contact with the homeowners and explained police guidelines around inappropriate travel.
One witness who saw Mr Cummings told the Guardian: “I was really annoyed. It’s one rule for Dominic Cummings and one rule for the rest of us.”
Downing Street had yet to issue an official comment last night, but a senior Government source said: “Dominic and his wife were both sick with coronavirus so they took the decision to travel to Durham where his parents live so his parents could look after their young son. They took what they believed was the right decision in the interests of their young child.”
But Sir Ed Davey, the acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, said millions of people had made “incredible sacrifices” to stop the spread of the virus, adding: “If Dominic Cummings has broken the guidelines he will have to resign, it is as simple as that.”
Ian Blackford, the SNP’S Westminster leader, said: “Dominic Cummings’ position is completely untenable – he must resign or be sacked.”
A Labour Party spokesman said: “The Government’s guidance was very clear: stay at home and no non-essential travel. The British people do not expect there to be one rule for them and another rule for Dominic Cummings.”