Labour whip resigns over lockdown tryst
MP for Canterbury steps down after breaking rules in incident compared with Dominic Cummings case
A Labour MP who broke lockdown rules to meet her married lover has stepped down from her front bench role. Rosie Duffield, who was a whip, admitted meeting her boyfriend for a long walk in April while it was against restrictions to see people from other households, The Mail on Sunday reported. The MP for Canterbury, 48, said she was “attempting to navigate a difficult personal situation”. Anneliese Dodds, the shadow chancellor, said it was “absolutely right” for her to quit.
A LABOUR MP has stepped down from her front bench position as a whip after admitting she broke lockdown rules to meet her married lover.
Rosie Duffield met her boyfriend for a long walk in April, while it was still against the lockdown rules to see people from different households, The Mail on Sunday reported.
She resigned as a whip on Saturday night and said she was “attempting to navigate a difficult personal situation”.
Ms Duffield, 48, was living separately from married father-of-three James Routh, a TV director, when they went for a long walk in her constituency and he visited her home, it was reported.
The MP for Canterbury told The Mail on Sunday the pair observed the two-metre social distancing rules, but the incidents were before meetings between people from different households were allowed.
Mr Routh has since moved into the MP’S London flat after separating from his wife, the newspaper reported.
Ms Duffield said she had made sure he was allowed to move into her flat under lockdown rules before he did so.
In a statement, the MP said: “My partner and I have been attempting to navigate a difficult personal situation as responsibly as possible. I apologise that during that process, we breached the guidelines. A relationship breakdown is difficult at the best of times, let alone during a pandemic. I hope people can understand why I took the steps I did and know that I take responsibility for the breaches that occurred and for which I apologise.”
Mr Routh is reported to have said that separating from his wife was “painful” but that it had become “increasingly impossible to live under the same roof ”.
Friends of his wife told The Mail on Sunday that she was “heartbroken” and did not expect the split.
One told the newspaper: “She’s not only heartbroken about what’s happened, but also that Rosie is telling her supporters not to break the rules when she’s doing exactly that. And the fact that Rosie couldn’t wait until the pandemic was over.” Ms Duffield was elected in the 2017 general election with a majority of 187. She held on to the seat in the 2019 general election, increasing her majority to 1,836.
She has previously attacked people breaking social distancing online. In a tweet on May 25, she wrote: “I really am struggling to understand what is so difficult about social distancing – it has been clearly explained for months now. I understand the need for businesses to stay afloat but we all have to be responsible adults.”
Yesterday, Anneliese Dodds, the shadow chancellor, said it was “absolutely right” for Ms Duffield to resign.
Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show on the BBC, Ms Dodds said: “She was absolutely right to resign, clearly she wasn’t right to have broken the rules – quite the opposite – and it is absolutely correct that she has immediately taken responsibility for that as I understand it, and she has resigned.”
The news that she broke the rules will embarrass Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, who has attempted to keep his party free from criticism following widespread condemnation of Dominic Cummings’ trip to Durham in April. Mr Starmer said Mr Cummings’ alleged lockdown breach was an “insult to the millions of people across Britain who have sacrificed so much during this pandemic”.
In an article for the Daily Mirror, Sir Keir said the Cummings incident showed it was “one rule for them, another rule for everybody else”.
“I share people’s frustrations, not just because of the actions of one adviser, but because this has become a national distraction at a moment of national crisis,” he wrote on Wednesday.
Sir Ed Davey, acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, said he had “huge respect” for Ms Duffield’s decision to step down. “She made a mistake, apologises, and takes the consequences,” he tweeted. “As did Neil Ferguson and Catherine Calderwood. So what’s so special about Cummings?
“Your arrogance undermines public health. Sack him.”
‘Huge respect for Rosie Duffield: she made a mistake, apologises, and takes the consequences. So what’s so special about Cummings?