Parties in war of words over Cummings issue
SWANSEA Liberal Democrats have criticised Conservative councillors over the Dominic Cummings lockdown issue, claiming they backed the Prime Minister’s key aide and were “living on another planet”.
But the Swansea Conservative group said the Lib-dems had got it wrong, and accused their opposition rivals of not reading their statement on the matter.
On May 26, after being asked for their stance on the widely-reported movements of Mr Cummings in March and April, the Swansea Conservatives said: “We fully understand the frustration felt by many, who have followed the guidance and in many instances sacrificed a great deal. We are all in that position.
“If there has been any breach by Mr Cummings this should be judged by the UK Government based on the account he has given and then the appropriate action should be taken.
“If he is judged to have broken the rules then we would support him being removed from his post.”
It went on to suggest the media had a vendetta against the influential adviser and hadn’t brought the same level of scrutiny on two Labour politicians accused of not following lockdown rules.
Some individual Conservative councillors also expressed their views on the current controversy and felt there had been a media witch hunt, with one making it clear he believed Mr Cummings had stayed within the lockdown guidelines.
Then, on May 27, Libdem parliamentary spokesman for Swansea West, Mike O’carroll, said: “The Swansea public have responded magnificently to the coronavirus crisis helping out their neighbours, making huge sacrifices, and above all obeying the rules for the good of all of us.
“When senior officials act as if the rules don’t apply to them, it’s a kick in the teeth to all of us who are doing the right thing.
“In backing Dominic Cummings, Swansea Conservatives have shown they are out of touch and are living on another planet to the rest of us. Dominic Cummings must go.”
Swansea Lib-dem group leader, Councillor Chris Holley, said he’d heard many “heartbreaking stories” of sacrifice over the past two months.
“It can’t be one rule for the elite and one rule for the rest of us,” he said.
“Swansea Conservatives should be ashamed of themselves, and I like many residents am disappointed that they are willing to sacrifice the rest of us to save their mate’s job.”
In response, the Swansea Conservatives said they felt the comments of their Lib-dem rivals were false, misleading and “quite frankly an embarrassment to them”.
“They clearly didn’t read our statement which was not in support of Mr Cummings,” said the Swansea Conservatives.
“Instead of peddling nonsense like this, our priority is working to benefit our communities.”