‘Cummings effect’ continues to rock trust in Government
THE “Cummings effect” led to a major loss of confidence in the Government, and trust has not yet recovered, analysis shows.
On May 22, it was reported that Dominic Cummings, the chief adviser to Boris Johnson, had breached lockdown rules and driven 264 miles from his London home to Durham while suffering symptoms of coronavirus.
University College London, which is monitoring public attitudes towards the Government during the pandemic, found a marked decrease in confidence starting that day. On a scale of seven, confidence was between 4.5 and five at the start of lockdown but dropped to 3.5 after the Cummings affair. And it has never bounced back.
The study, published in The Lancet, said confidence in England has remained low, which experts say could affect people’s willingness to follow rules. The number of people complying with lockdown measures has dropped steadily since the beginning of March and began to fall even faster after the Cummings incident, the study found.
Prof Richard Harris, professor of quantitative social geography at the University of Bristol, said: “Whatever the rights or wrongs of Cummings’s behaviour, those in positions of authority have to set the best example or else the already rampant cynicism against politics and politicians is amplified.”
Prof Robert Dingwall, professor of sociology at Nottingham Trent University, said Mr Cummings may have been the final straw after a number of slips by other public figures, making the drop in confidence “the culmination of a pattern of behaviour”. Meanwhile, a complaint has been made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct by two of four witnesses who claim Mr Cummings made a second trip to Durham. They have accused Durham Police of failing to investigate their claims.
Mr Cummings has denied making a second trip. Clare Edwards, a nurse practitioner, and her husband, Dave, made a statement on May 25 in which they claim to have seen him on April 19 in Houghall woods on the edge of Durham. Durham Police said there was insufficient evidence to support the claim, according to The Guardian.