‘He has acted responsibly, legally and with integrity’
Prime Minister gives Cummings his full backing as Cabinet ministers warn of risks to lockdown
BORIS JOHNSON stepped in to protect Dominic Cummings last night in a move which caused alarm among some members of the Cabinet.
The Prime Minister made an unscheduled appearance at the Downing Street press conference to defend his chief adviser against accusations that he breached lockdown rules, insisting he had “acted responsibly and legally and with integrity”.
Cabinet colleagues, however, expressed fear that the move risked “seriously undermining” the Government’s lockdown strategy. Some even suggested the support for Mr Cummings could cost lives because the public would use it as justification for ignoring social distancing.
Meanwhile, government scientific advisers said Mr Johnson had “trashed” the advice they had given him on how to build trust in measures needed to keep coronavirus under control.
Mr Johnson said Mr Cummings had been following “instinct” when he drove his family from London to Durham to self-isolate at his parents’ farm, ostensibly for help with childcare should he and his wife fall badly ill.
He said: “I’ve had extensive face-toface conversations with Dominic Cummings and I concluded that in travelling to find the right kind of childcare at the moment when both he and his wife were about to be incapacitated by coronavirus, and when he had no alternative, I think he followed the instincts of every father, and every parent. I do not mark him down for that.”
However, it led to questions about whether people should now follow their instincts rather than the rules.
Mr Cummings’s mother Morag last night revealed her brother died on April 5, the day the chief adviser was seen in his parents’ garden. She refused to say whether this influenced his decision to travel to Durham.
Last night, Robin Lees, a retired chemistry teacher, made a complaint to police in which he reported seeing Mr Cummings and his family on a day out in Barnard Castle on April 12. Mr Lees told police in Durham he believed Mr Cummings had breached health protection regulations.
A Liberal Democrat councillor also made a complaint to Durham Police, which was reported to be considering whether it needs to take further action.
Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, appeared to confirm the family trip to Barnard Castle – on the 45th birthday of Mr Cummings’s wife, Mary Wakefield – when he told the BBC’S Andrew Marr that Mr Cummings was out of self-isolation by then.
Mr Johnson’s appearance came after a day of drama during which Mr Cummings had been besieged by journalists at his London home.
When he returned home last night Mr Cummings was heckled by neighbours from their windows as he walked down his street. One shouted: “People couldn’t go to funerals. What have you got to say to that?”
A woman shouted: “My mum’s terrified. My dad’s had three shoulder operations and she won’t let him go to the park, she won’t even entertain me in her garden.” Another woman had scrawled graffiti on the street saying Mr Cummings was “hopefully going”.
After two days of damaging revelations about Mr Cummings’s actions, Mr
Johnson risked not only his coronavirus strategy but also party unity with his decision not to sack him following a meeting in Downing Street yesterday.
The decision sparked anger at all levels of the party, and friends of the Prime Minister are also concerned that by binding his own reputation so tightly with that of Mr Cummings he risks being tainted by any further disclosures. Senior Tory MPS publicly called on Mr
Johnson to sack Mr Cummings, saying his position had become “untenable”.
Mr Johnson’s unscheduled appearance at the press conference failed to subdue a row that threatens to overshadow announcements this week on the next phase of the lockdown. The Prime Minister failed to answer a host of questions from journalists, such as when he became aware of Mr Cummings’s 520-mile round trip, whether he had sanctioned it, or whether he accepted Mr Cummings had broken lockdown a second time by driving 30 miles from Durham to Barnard Castle for a day out when such activity was forbidden. One Cabinet source told The Daily
Telegraph: “The discussion among Cabinet ministers at the moment is that this will cost lives. People will look at this and decide that if Dom can ignore the rules so can they, and the consequence of that will be that people get infected who would have otherwise stayed at home. This has massively undermined the lockdown message.”
Another senior Tory source said: “Boris has put his credibility and the Government’s credibility on the line by sticking up for Dom. How can we tell people they must abide by the lockdown now? The lockdown is
‘Boris has put his credibility and the Government’s credibility on the line by sticking up for Dom’
effectively over because this makes unenforceable.”
Stephen Reicher, a member of the SPI-B committee that advises the Government on behavioural science, said: “In a few short minutes tonight, Boris Johnson has trashed all the advice we have given on how to build trust and secure adherence to the measures necessary to control Covid-19.” Susan Michie and Robert West, both members of SPI-B, tweeted they agreed.
Tory MPS shared messages on a Whatsapp group that had been sent to them by angry constituents demanding to know why they had been forced to miss funerals or important events if the rules were open to interpretation.
Steve Baker, the former Brexit minister, said it was an “insult” to people who had diligently obeyed the lockdown rules. Peter Bone said the “vast, vast majority” of Conservative MPS now wanted Mr Cummings out of No10.
Mr Johnson said he decided to appear at the briefing because people were asking: “Is this Government asking you, the public, to do one thing while senior people here in Government…have been basically flouting those rules and endangering lives?”
He said the answer was: “I believe that in every respect, [Mr Cummings] has acted responsibly and legally and with integrity, and with the overwhelming aim of stopping the spread of the virus and saving lives.”
Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, said: “This was a test of the Prime Minister and he has failed it. The public will be forgiven for thinking there is one rule for the Prime Minister’s closest adviser and another for the British people. The Prime Minister’s actions have undermined confidence in his own public health message at this crucial time. Millions were watching for answers and they got nothing.”
He said Sir Mark Sedwill, the Cabinet Secretary, should launch an “urgent inquiry” into the affair.