The things they say
“I have constituents who didn’t get to say goodbye to loved ones; families who could not mourn together; people who didn’t visit sick relatives because they followed the guidance of the Government. I cannot in good faith tell them they were all wrong and one senior adviser to the Government was right”
- Douglas Ross, the parliamentary under-secretary
of state for Scotland “We cannot throw away valuable public and political goodwill any longer. It’s humiliating and degrading to their office to see ministers put out agreed lines in defence of an adviser. This is a time of national emergency and our focus must be unrelenting. We owe it to the nation”
- Senior Tory William Wragg, chairman of the Public
Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee in the Commons,
gives his views on the controversy surrounding Mr
Cummings. “People can then form their own judgment about whether or not what they thought he did was wise. My own view is that it is entirely reasonable. The allegation from some was he was heedlessly and recklessly putting other people in danger, I think if we look at the whole story we can see that was not the case”
- Cabinet Office Minister
Michael Gove “Now I have no doubt when we are finally allowed to enjoy concerts and theatrical performances once again, our brilliant orchestral players, singers and dancers will be ready to thrill us all, their talents possibly shining all the brighter because of their enforced silence and absence. I’m sure they know how deeply they touch people’s lives, so this entire programme is dedicated to them as a tribute to the sheer joy and solace they bring us all”
- The Prince of Wales dedicates a Classic FM show which he recorded to orchestral
performers. “I was frightened, my mind went all blank. I tried to imagine that it wasn’t happening, like it was a bad dream”
- Veteran Jeff Haward, 100, who was among more than 300,000 Allied soldiers who were in Dunkirk, recalls his fight for survival 80 years on.