Boris backs Cummings and says: It’s not like he was visiting a lover
BORIS Johnson last night mounted a determined defence of his controversial aide Dominic Cummings, telling allies: ‘It’s not like he was visiting a lover’ when he allegedly broke lockdown rules.
Despite fresh claims that the adviser had made a second trip from London to Durham, the Prime Minister initially spared Mr Cummings from the axe after deciding he had been acting ‘in the best interest of his child’, rather than conducting an affair – like the journey which sealed the fate of scientific adviser Neil Ferguson.
As Opposition MPs demanded an inquiry, Mr Cummings last night remained defiant over his actions, which one No10 insider jokingly called a ‘Domnishambles’, a reference to the derisive term ‘omnishambles’ used to describe an all-encompassing mess in BBC political satire The Thick Of It.
Calls for Mr Cummings’s head intensified after witnesses claimed to have seen him and his family at a Durham beauty spot on April 19, days after he had returned to
London after his first controversial trip. Last night, No 10 said: ‘We will not waste our time answering a stream of false allegations.’
Mr Cummings yesterday insisted he had done the ‘right thing’ over the 260-mile trip he made from his London home to his elderly parents in County Durham when his wife became ill with Covid-19 symptoms.
The family made the trip a few days after the Government imposed lockdown on March 23, so his parents could look after their four-year-old son.
The Prime Minister told friends: ‘Dominic acted within the guidance and was simply caring for his family. I now consider the matter closed.’
A snap YouGov poll found 68 per cent of people believe Mr Cummings flouted the Government rules and more than half (52 per cent) thought he should resign. Just 28 per cent believe he should stay at No10.
Before the claims of a second trip emerged, insiders said Mr
Johnson had ‘thrown a protective arm’ around Mr Cummings because he had a ‘compelling case’ for his trip.
Professor Ferguson had to resign this month after it emerged that he had met his married mistress during lockdown. Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Catherine Calderwood had to quit after visiting her second home in Fife in April.
Asked yesterday whether his conduct ‘looked good’, Mr Cummings said: ‘Who cares about good looks? It’s a question of doing the right thing. It’s not about what you guys think.’
When asked if he would resign, he said: ‘Obviously not.
‘You guys are probably all about as right about that as you were about Brexit.’ The drama torpedoed Mr Johnson’s efforts to re-assert control of the Covid-19 crisis amid claims of power struggles in Downing Street, and Cabinet splits over plans to place travellers to the UK in 14-day quarantine. In other developments:
The Government announced 282 more people with coronavirus had died – 16 in Scotland – since Friday;
Police launched an inquiry into two Scots care homes where 19 people have died;
Business leaders and former Ministers David Davis and David Blunkett demanded a rethink on quarantine rules.
Downing Street said reports Mr Cummings’s family had been spoken to by police were incorrect. Earlier, a No10 spokesman said: ‘Owing to his wife being infected with suspected coronavirus and the high likelihood that he would become unwell, it was essential for Mr Cummings to ensure his child could be properly cared for. At no stage was he or his family spoken to by police.’
Durham police commissioner Steve White said it had been ‘most unwise’ for Mr Cummings to make the journey.
The storm erupted just a day after Mr Johnson told Ministers to obey lockdown rules.
Mr Cummings’s survival could hinge on whether Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill launches an inquiry. One insider said: ‘[He] could make life very difficult for Dom.’
A Labour spokesman said last night: ‘The PM’s chief adviser appears to believe that it is one rule for him and another for the British people.’
‘It’s not like he was visiting a lover’