Boris Johnson’s special advisor Dominic Cummings in London on May 24, 2020. – Alberto Pezzali / AP / SIPA
Move along, nothing to see. Despite the outcry and appeals – including from the ranks of his conservative majority – to demand the departure of his special adviser Dominic Cummings, accused of violating confinement rules, Boris Johnson assures him: his advisor acted “in a responsible, legal and honest manner”.
Dominic Cummings, 48, mastermind of the 2016 referendum campaign that led to the Brexit, has been in the midst of a political storm since two newspapers revealed on Friday evening that he had gone at the end of March with his wife and their son to his parents’ home in Durham (400 km north-east of London), when ” he feared he had
Covid-19.
“Perfectly understandable”
“What they have done is perfectly understandable,” the Prime Minister, who came to personally assure the daily press conference on Downing Street on the subject of the pandemic, said on Sunday.
According to the Prime Minister’s office, Dominic Cummings made the trip because he needed help looking after his son while his wife was sick, and the family stayed in a building separate from the property.
“Obviously False” Allegations
The controversy redoubled when The Observer, Sunday edition of Guardian, and the Sunday Mirror, the source of the first revelations, said Dominic Cummings was also seen in Durham on April 19, five days after returning to London to return to work after his recovery.
But Boris Johnson dismissed the new accusations, saying that many of the allegations relayed in the press were “manifestly false”.
Questioned this Sunday by journalists outside his London home, the special adviser denied having visited Durham again in April.
“An insult to the sacrifices made by the British people”.
“It was a test for the Prime Minister and he failed,” said Labor opposition leader Keir Starmer, who said the absence of sanctions was “an insult to the sacrifices made by the British people.”
Boris Johnson had chosen this agitated Sunday to confirm the partial reopening of primary schools on June 1, a subject which is also controversial when the Prime Minister is already strongly criticized on his management of the coronavirus crisis.
The United Kingdom is indeed the second country in the world hardest hit by the pandemic with 36,793 deaths – more than 41,000 including the unconfirmed cases.
An advisor “certainly not essential”
The Cummings affair also stirred the ranks of the conservative party of Boris Johnson, where the powerful adviser, who is not a member of the party, counts many enemies.
Steve Baker, influential MP and fierce supporter of Brexit, said Dominic Cummings should leave. “It is certainly not essential,” said Steve Baker on Sky News.
Strangling a Dominic Cummings who “used to believe that the rules do not apply to him”, MP Damian Collins said on Twitter that the government would be better “without him”.
“Millions of people put their lives on hold, made huge sacrifices to obey the rules during this time,” said Labor Party official Sarah Jones. “We have seen the broken hearts of people who were unable to attend the funeral of their loved ones,” she said on Sky News.
Vehemently deleted Tweet
In the wake of Boris Johnson’s intervention, a vehement tweet arose from the administration’s account: “Arrogant and rude. Can you imagine having to work with these truth-twisters? Quickly deleted, the message will be investigated, the government’s Twitter account said.
Tweet from the UK Civil Service. Posted and deleted within 10 minutes. pic.twitter.com/IqSmeiJqoK
– Lloyd???????????????????????????? (@LloydCymru) May 24, 2020
Prior to this case, the UK had two resounding resignations for breaching the confinement in force since March 23. An influential government scientific advisor, Professor Neil Ferguson, had resigned after receiving a woman, presented as his mistress, into his home.
In early April, the head of the Scottish health services, Catherine Calderwood, left her post after admitting to having visited her second home twice.
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