‘I don’t regret what I did’
DOMINIC CUMMINGS last night insisted he had no regrets over his behaviour during lockdown and had done nothing wrong by driving 260 miles to stay on his parents’ farm.
In an extraordinary hour-long press conference, Boris Johnson’s chief adviser refused to apologise for taking his wife and son to Durham and repeatedly said he had not broken any rules.
He said he knew British people “hate the idea of unfairness”, adding: “I believe I made the right judgment but I can understand that others may disagree with that.”
After three days of damaging headlines, Mr Cummings was ordered by the Prime Minister to make the unprecedented live television appearance in the hope that he would draw a line under the growing scandal. But he also made a series of admissions likely to draw further scrutiny of his decisions.
Mr Cummings disclosed that:
♦ He had made a 60-mile round trip to a local beauty spot during his stay in Durham “to see if I could drive safely” after his eyesight was affected by a suspected bout of coronavirus
♦ He did not tell Boris Johnson he was leaving London or ask his permission to do so
♦ He returned to Downing Street to work after going home to check on his wife who had fallen ill with suspected coronavirus
♦ He took his wife with him to hospital after their son fell ill, even though she was self-isolating with coronavirus symptoms
♦ He avoided going public about the Durham trip because he did not want to “cause confusion”
Mr Cummings said he had not offered his resignation to the Prime Min- ister nor had he considered doing so, despite calls from more than 20 Conservative MPS for him to quit.
He said he had first told Mr Johnson he was in Durham several days into his 14-day stay there, but that both of them were too ill “to remember the conversation in any detail”.
Mr Cummings also confessed that he and the Government had made mistakes in their handling of the coronavirus crisis since January, but chose not to detail what they were.
His appearance in the garden of No 10 won over some Tory MPS, including Mark Spencer, the Chief Whip, who said he had given a “full, frank, honest and open statement” proving he acted within the rules and that it was “time to move on”.
Other MPS, however, said they would wait to see how their constituents responded before passing judgment.
Tory MPS nationwide have been bombarded with messages from constituents demanding to know why Mr Cummings has not been sacked and, with a growing sense of rebellion within the party, Mr Cummings was sent out by the Prime Minister to explain his actions.
He said he had decided to go to Durham after his wife fell ill and he feared that no one would be able to look after their four-year-old son while he was at work. In the event, he himself fell ill the next day, meaning the family had to spend 14 days in self-isolation.
Asked if he felt he should apologise or regretted what he had done, he said: “I don’t regret what I did … I think what I did was actually reasonable in these circumstances. The rules made clear that if you are dealing with small children that can be exceptional circumstances.” He added: “I don’t think I’m so different, and I don’t think there’s
‘I believe I made the right judgment but I can understand that others may disagree with that’
one rule for me and one rule for other people … there is no regulation covering the situation I found myself in.”
Mr Cummings confirmed he had made a 60-mile round trip from Durham to Barnard Castle with his wife and son on April 12, in an apparent breach of the lockdown rules, but said it was effectively a test run to see if he was up to driving back to London the next day.
Asked if he understood why people were angry with his behaviour and had called for his resignation, he said: “I can understand that some people will argue that I should have stayed at home in London throughout.
“I understand these views, I know the intense hardship and sacrifice the entire country has had to go through. However, I respectfully disagree.”
Mr Johnson said at his own Downing Street press conference later: “I do regret the confusion and the anger and the pain that people have been suffering and that’s why I did want people to understand exactly what had happened.
“I tried yesterday to explain my version of what I had heard from Dominic
Cummings but I couldn’t go into the detail that people wanted to hear and that’s why we had the statement today.”
He added: “People will have to make their minds up. I think he came across as someone who cares very much about his family.
“Reasonable people may disagree with his actions but I don’t think reasonable people will disagree with what was going through his head.”
Asked if Mr Cummings had his “unconditional” support, Mr Johnson said: “I can’t give unconditional backing to anybody but I don’t believe anybody in Number 10 has done anything to undermine our message.”
Among the members of the Cabinet who publicly backed Mr Cummings last night was Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, who said: “Dom
Cummings was right today to set out in full detail how he made his decisions in very difficult circumstances. Now we must move on, fight this dreadful disease and get our country back on her feet.”
However, Mr Cummings’s public statement did nothing to silence the calls from opposition parties for him to resign.
A spokesman for the Labour Party said: “The British people were looking for at least an apology from Dominic Cummings for breaking the lockdown. They got none.
“Millions of people have made extraordinary sacrifices during the lockdown.
“Families have been forced apart, sometimes in the most tragic of circumstances. They stayed at home to protect the NHS and save lives.
“And yet, the message from this Government is clear: it’s one rule for Boris Johnson’s closest adviser, another for everybody else.”
Ian Blackford, SNP Westminster Leader, said it was now “beyond doubt Dominic Cummings broke multiple lockdown rules”.
‘The message is clear: it’s one rule for Boris Johnson’s closest adviser, another for everybody else’