Downing Street is facing accusations of a cover-up over Dominic Cummings’ trip to Durham at the height of the national lockdown, amid reports that No 10 knew he made the 264-mile journey after developing symptoms of coronavirus.
Opposition parties have called for the prime minister to sack his chief adviser over the apparent lockdown breach, which was revealed in an investigation by the Guardian and the Mirror.
Durham constabulary spoke to Cummings’s family to remind of them of the lockdown rules after receiving reports on 31 March that he was in Durham days after becoming sick.
Downing Street has made no official comment on the matter. It has repeatedly refused to answer questions posed by the Guardian over a number of weeks.
The BBC reported that an anonymous source close to Cummings had claimed that a “small number of people in No 10 knew that Cummings had gone to Durham”.
Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak)Few more details this morning -
May 23, 2020
-small number of people in No 10 knew that Cummings had gone to Durham, not stayed in London -seems it was his sister who had offered to help with childcare when he and his wife fell ill
-family stayed in separate house + had no contact in the end
This prompted the Scottish National party’s Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, to accuse Downing Street of trying to suppress the story.
Blackford said: “What I find interesting … is that members of Downing Street knew about this, so first and foremost Boris Johnson has serious questions to answer over what now appears to be a cover-up.”
A Labour party spokesperson said: “We are still waiting for a clear explanation from No 10 about Dominic Cummings’ actions. The public have made extraordinary sacrifices during this pandemic and the lockdown. It cannot be one rule for those who set them and another for the British people.”
The Guardian first approached Downing Street for a comment in April after being told by a neighbour of Cummings’s parents that they had seen him at the Durham property on 5 April.
No 10 refused to discuss the issue at the time. A spokesman: “It’ll be a no comment on that one. We wouldn’t get into location of individual members of staff.”
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Blackford said: “The prime minister must explain exactly when he knew about the breaking of the rules, whether he sanctioned it, why Cummings wasn’t sacked immediately and why it appears that he tried to cover it up, not telling the public until the newspaper[s] broke the story eight weeks later last night.”
Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA, the union that represents senior civil servants, said Johnson had a duty to explain Cummings’ behaviour.
He told Today: “I think the prime minister needs to understand how heartbreaking this lockdown has been for so many families and the sacrifices that have been made up and down the country.
“I think in these circumstances, if it looks like there is one rule for those at the centre of government and one rule for the rest of the country, then really the prime minister has a responsibility, as well as a constitutional responsibility, to explain his actions. He has known about this for six weeks.”
Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats have also called for Cummings to resign or be sacked.
Prof Susan Michie, of University College London, who is a member of Sage, the scientific group that has guided the government’s response to the coronavirus, suggested Cummings’ trip would undermine trust in the official advice on the outbreak.
Susan Michie (@SusanMichie)Trust in Government is key to maintaining adherence to Government #COVIDー19 advice and perceived fairness is key to trust. https://t.co/tbgcCXO3xU
May 23, 2020
Dorset’s police and crime commissioner, Martyn Underhill, said such a high-profile breach of the rules by Cummings would make it more difficult for police to enforce the lockdown.
He said: “Here’s a very high-profile person and it’s very unfortunate, the timing of this because, this is going to be the busiest weekend Dorset has seen this year.”
source https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/may/23/dominic-cummings-no-10-accused-of-covering-up-lockdown-breach
0 تعليقات