When you've got to go, you've got to go!

[Alikado]

The position of Dominic Cummings now seems untenable, after it was revealed that whilst he & his wife were suffering with the virus he undertook a 500 mile round trip with his wife & young son to visit his elderly parents. Amazingly Bojo is still supporting him saying he has done nothing wrong!

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavir...rules-11993051

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/poli...-a4449241.html

If this is acceptable does this now mean the general public can do what they want and closed down businesses can reopen because the rules don't matter?

[Hector]

The problem for those in power now is that it is much harder not to get found out than it once was.

[Toodles McGinty]

Like Johnson, Cummings is Teflon. He'll get away with it.

Who else can come up with snappy three-part slogans for Johnson?

He's running the country. He'll walk away from this without a second thought. Unless Johnson thinks it might make him unpopular. Then there may be some public knuckle-rapping. But little more.

Not just one law for us. One law for Neil Ferguson and another for Cummings, apparently.

[Lamparilla]

The problem for those in power now is that it is much harder not to get found out than it once was.

But for an odious creep like Cummings, getting found out isn't a problem - he doesn't give a toss, and he knows that Johnson needs his Machiavellian expertise.

Don't forget he was the architect of herd immunity.

[Hector]

But for an odious creep like Cummings, getting found out isn't a problem - he doesn't give a toss, and he knows that Johnson needs his Machiavellian expertise.

Don't forget he was the architect of herd immunity.

True.

[seivad]

If Cummings et al believe that the trip to Co. Durham is justifiable, why are they suggesting that the official statement made by Durham Police was misleading? What boils down to an accusation that the police lied, doesn't exactly enhance their credibility.

Neighbours in the area reported seeing Cummings and his son at his parent's home. It was reported to the police. The police, acting on the reports, visited the property and reiterated the official government policy. What reason would the police have to issue a false statement?

Durham Police ADPCVC's statement also makes it clear that he believes that Cumming's visit was inappropriate and irresponsible:


"Acting Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner, Steve White said: “In relation to the incident where Dominic Cummings visited Durham during lockdown Durham Constabulary acted appropriately. Given the whole ethos of the guidance and regulations issued from the Government was to reduce the spread, regardless of reason, by travelling to County Durham when known to be infected was most unwise. To beat this crisis we need to be selfless as millions have been. The response by the people of County Durham and Darlington have been exemplary, which makes this most frustrating and concerning.”


“Incidents such as this do not help, and I can appreciate that the longer this goes on the harder it gets, but I encourage the people of County Durham and Darlington to keep up the outstanding effort seen so far by using common sense when following the guidance to stay alert and continue to social distance.”


Posted on Saturday 23rd May 2020

https://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/News-a...-lockdown.aspx

[Lamparilla]

The only hope is that senior Tories might put pressure on Johnson to bin Cummings, as they did with the scandal of charging immigrant NHS workers to use the NHS.

A lot of them fear Cummings and this might be a chance to get rid of him.

I think this one might run.

[seivad]

The only hope is that senior Tories might put pressure on Johnson to bin Cummings, as they did with the scandal of charging immigrant NHS workers to use the NHS.

A lot of them fear Cummings and this might be a chance to get rid of him.

I think this one might run.

I hope so. I/we may often slag some members of the Tory party, but I can't believe that many of them approve of the malevolent nihilist Cummings. The country and the Conservative party would both benefit from his removal. However, I also think that Boris would fight tooth and nail against it. Cummings relieves him of many prime ministerial responsibilities.

[Toodles McGinty]

I hope so. I/we may often slag some members of the Tory party, but I can't believe that many of them approve of the malevolent nihilist Cummings. The country and the Conservative party would both benefit from his removal. However, I also think that Boris would fight tooth and nail against it. Cummings relieves him of many prime ministerial responsibilities.

Poundshop Churchill hasn't the balls to sack him. Without Cummings whispering down his earpiece, he'll flounder.

Priti Patel yesterday: “We will not allow a small minority, a reckless minority to endanger us all so there will be penalties for those who break these mandatory measures.” But she's part of the cabal, so she'll roll back on that pretty quickly.

At least we know without a shadow of a doubt who is in charge at Number 10.

I think Phillip Hammond had it right:

[local]

I suppose there will have to be another general election if Cummings goes.


I haven't followed the reports but many of our simpler folk think he is Prime Minister in all but name.

Me I just think he is an adviser, if he acted incorrectly then bye bye Mr Cummings soon find another.

Cummings and Goings are quite common in politics

[Toodles McGinty]

This:

Jay Rayner
@jayrayner1
·<time datetime="2020-05-23T12:17:56.000Z">2h</time>
To drop the snark for a moment, what’s extraordinary is that the UK govt would willingly undermine the vital public health messaging in the midsts of a pandemic which has killed 55,000 people and rising - just to save one wretched man’s job.

[justbecause]

The advert that has just played on the radio,states quite clearly, “If you, or any member of your family display ANY symptoms of the virus, you must NOT leave your house under ANY circumstances”. Given that both he and wife were showing symptoms, how on Earth can he stand there and say that driving from London to Durham WITH his wife was acceptable.
I’ve been prepared to put my head on the block to defend Boris throughout the pandemic, but in this instance he has got to do the right thing and sack Cummings. If he doesn’t, both his and Cummings’ positions are untenable.

[Lamparilla]

Civilised society is based on rules. There are lots of them we don't like, but we follow them because we have a sense of social responsibility.

The people who make the rules have a privileged position in society, and they have to be seen to be following the rules. No-one is unaccountable and no-one is above the law.

Posters above have shown that there was no valid reason for what Cummings did, other than to follow his own twisted and selfish belief that the policies he adopted as part of Sage don't apply to him. He could have found alternatives, but he chose not to do that.

Of course, the cabal will rally round and twist the story in order to justify his actions, but the bottom line is that Cummings has undermined everything that right-minded people, including those who are mourning family members who are victims of the virus, believe in.

We all know that this will be swept under the carpet, but I just hope that there will be a groundswell of public opinion telling the government exactly how they feel about this.

[Darkside]

So Stephen Kinnock and Tahir Ali had better stand down as MPs then, being as Kinnock drove hundreds of miles to visit his elderly parents and Ali attended not one but TWO massive funerals attended by hundreds of other people, all not social distancing.

Strangely, I can't hear Labour supporters screeching for their heads to roll...

[local]

Interesting moral maze question for us, what would we do in the same position ?


I still haven't got a clear picture of what happened and the emphasis on distance seems an irrelevant distraction, for if that's where his help was then that's where he/we would go.

He unfortunately has a lot of frustrated anti-Brexit and anti-Boris fans queueing up to vent their frustration with being on the losing side twice and many blame him for it.

The visceral comments on here go far beyond objective condemnation of his isolation trip.

Still if when all the facts are out he has done wrong then bye bye he will walk into another job easily.