Johnson stands by aide over 250-mile lockdown trip

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday said he would not fire his chief aide for allegedly violating the national lockdown rules that he helped create by driving the length of England to his parents’ house while he was infected with the coronavirus.

Defying a growing clamor from the public and politicians, Johnson said Dominic Cummings had acted “responsibly, legally and with integrity” when he drove 250 miles from London to Durham in northeast England with his wife and son at the end of March.

Britain’s lockdown, which began on March 23, stipulated that people should remain at their primary residence, leaving only for essential local errands and exercise. Anyone with coronavirus symptoms was told to completely isolate themselves.

Cummings said he traveled to be near extended family because his wife was showing coronavirus disease 2019 symptoms. He correctly thought he was also infected.

Johnson told a news conference that Cummings had “followed the instincts of every father and every parent,” and that Cummings, his wife and son followed the rules by self-isolating for 14 days once they reached Durham.