I would have agreed with this but for the fact he knew he had the bug at the time. I would love to visit my parents but I would not be willing to risk someone else’s to do so, in fact, come to think of it, what sort of sociopath visits his own elderly parents while suffering from a virus known for its deadly effects on elderly people?
I don’t have a second home; I haven’t been able to visit my elderly widowed father for eight weeks; I have complied with the Covid-19 regulations even though I don’t like them. Why is a senior adviser to the Prime Minister allowed to travel miles and miles, whilst symptomatic, seemingly in clear breach of the law? If true, why are the rules only for us little people? That’s the dangerous element for the Government.
It's f*cking explosive.
What I don't understand is why these people think they wont be found out?
I sort of get an academic making a tit of himself because he probably doesn't yet realise what being in the public eye means, but Dom Cummings? Give me a break.
Someone in politics not thinking ahead 5 minutes? It's so out of character for the political class!
I don’t have a second home; I haven’t been able to visit my elderly widowed father for eight weeks; I have complied with the Covid-19 regulations even though I don’t like them. Why is a senior adviser to the Prime Minister allowed to travel miles and miles, whilst symptomatic, seemingly in clear breach of the law? If true, why are the rules only for us little people? That’s the dangerous element for the Government.
I haven't seen peoples responses in this thread.
Presume PB Tory ultras are defending the indefensible?
That is what defines an ultra, so the question is a little strange. Surely it would be whether the usually or generally loyal are doing so which would be significant?
Genuinely dont know what anyone has said.
My guess would be TGOHF and HYUFD would be ultras?
RobD and Phillip Thomson probably but I would hope not?
We have to just go for it....I think I've got eight weeks without the pub itus...fuck it. Every which way is just shit....so at least we should be able to go to the pub down some pints, and have a decent curry after....
I'd booked tickets to Brixton Academy tonight.....I've already missed out on trips to the Etihad, New York and Italy in this period..but I think missing Hooky tonight doing Joy Division at Brixton has hit me particularly hard....
I feel the same. I was last at work 2 months ago. I had just come back from a holiday in Cyprus so the memory of that sustained me a bit. I did lots of work round the flat, had to have a new central heating boiler installed and was buoyed up by the fact that I am no longer spending any money so could refill my savings account. I've been working from home, but that's dried up a bit. Last weekend I realised depression was starting to set in. It's not people: I'm having lots of Skype chats and don't really need to be within 2m of anyone. It's intellectual: I need to be out and about, exploring places, getting away from my own four walls and the local towns. I know I can now go out any distance for recreation, but there's nothing to do when you get there.
As of today, everyone I know under 40 either wants lockdown to end, or is now totally ignoring lockdown
Lots of over-40s as well
You know lots of dickheads.
Maybe. But you don’t know many people under 40, because I’m right
My under 40 colleagues and relatives are doing the right thing.
Oh I'm doing the right thing. But stir crazyness is setting in.
Most of the people I know are meeting up quietly around each other's houses in small groups now. A few drinks, a meal together.
And here's the thing. It feels good. There's no guilt, only relief. At seeing other people again. At feeling human again. At wondering what the fuss was all about.
And you realise you'd rather get the bloody disease than ever go through lockdown again.
That is the revelation that about half the country has had over the last week or so. And that is why the Cummings story is a non-story.
1. What actually happened? Because either Dominic Cummings was too ill to look after a young child or he could drive 250 miles. There isn’t an overlap in that Venn diagram. And the accounts he and his wife put out (presumably on a paid basis) seem to have been at best ludicrously misleading.
2. Did Dominic Cummings’ decision lead to a change in government guidance? This looks distinctly possible on the time line we currently have.
3. When did Boris Johnson know? The story is weeks old but the Prime Minister has taken no action before now.
4. How does the government intend to claim moral authority when it wants the public to follow its guidance in future?
If its true that Cummings travelled so that his child could be looked after then that was something the government did advise was legal under the reasonable excuse proviso of the law.
I don’t have a second home; I haven’t been able to visit my elderly widowed father for eight weeks; I have complied with the Covid-19 regulations even though I don’t like them. Why is a senior adviser to the Prime Minister allowed to travel miles and miles, whilst symptomatic, seemingly in clear breach of the law? If true, why are the rules only for us little people? That’s the dangerous element for the Government.
I haven't seen peoples responses in this thread.
Presume PB Tory ultras are defending the indefensible?
That is what defines an ultra, so the question is a little strange. Surely it would be whether the usually or generally loyal are doing so which would be significant?
Genuinely dont know what anyone has said.
My guess would be TGOHF and HYUFD would be ultras?
RobD and Phillip Thomson probably but I would hope not?
BigG Floater Felix probably critical?
My first response was to criticise him, though that was before I saw that he had a reason to do it, now I don't know. It depends what the truth is.
I don’t have a second home; I haven’t been able to visit my elderly widowed father for eight weeks; I have complied with the Covid-19 regulations even though I don’t like them. Why is a senior adviser to the Prime Minister allowed to travel miles and miles, whilst symptomatic, seemingly in clear breach of the law? If true, why are the rules only for us little people? That’s the dangerous element for the Government.
I haven't seen peoples responses in this thread.
Presume PB Tory ultras are defending the indefensible?
That is what defines an ultra, so the question is a little strange. Surely it would be whether the usually or generally loyal are doing so which would be significant?
Genuinely dont know what anyone has said.
My guess would be TGOHF and HYUFD would be ultras?
RobD and Phillip Thomson probably but I would hope not?
If its true that Cummings travelled so that his child could be looked after then that was something the government did advise was legal under the reasonable excuse proviso of the law.
[tweet]1263945352207642626[/tweet]
He was supposed to be self isolating, he had the bug. He was now supposed to be outside for any reason. Under section 4 of the regulations he could have been detained.
PB Tories not exactly lining up to defend their (mad)man.
The police have spoken to him. He did the crime, he served his time.
Jenrick survived so should Dom.
Hmmm.
While Jenrick was undoubtedly a fool, and was lucky to survive, the fact Himself was a carrier of coronavirus and had every reason to suspect he might be puts this on a different level.
The fact that he’s a stuck up third rate Oedipus Complexer whom nobody likes isn’t exactly going to help him either.
To be honest if he travelled 250 miles on public transport knowing he had covid he must go. No ifs or buts
No, no, no. This sort of weakness is what debilitates governments; brashness makes them invincible. Just brush it off and say that the matter had been dealt with and is now closed. The end.
Lol. We know you would be calling for his resignation if it was a Labour person.
South Wales Police had to admonish the Kinnocks for the most horrendous breach of lockdown early on. Steve Kinnock is still the MP for Aberavon.
If its true that Cummings travelled so that his child could be looked after then that was something the government did advise was legal under the reasonable excuse proviso of the law.
[tweet]1263945352207642626[/tweet]
He was supposed to be self isolating, he had the bug. He was now supposed to be outside for any reason. Under section 4 of the regulations he could have been detained.
I am not a lawyer. As I said, I await to see what the truth was.
If he clearly broke the law without a very good reason he should go. No ifs, no buts. If he fell under an exception (as that Tweet implies) he should stay.
If made an honest mistake he should get a strong slap on the wrist at the very least for it.
If Boris wanted to be amusing, he should put out a statement that Cummings will resign immediately ... after Stephen Kinnock does for breaking the rules himself!
PB Tories not exactly lining up to defend their (mad)man.
The police have spoken to him. He did the crime, he served his time.
Jenrick survived so should Dom.
Hmmm.
While Jenrick was undoubtedly a fool, and was lucky to survive, the fact Himself was a carrier of coronavirus and had every reason to suspect he might be puts this on a different level.
The fact that he’s a stuck up third rate Oedipus Complexer whom nobody likes isn’t exactly going to help him either.
To be honest if he travelled 250 miles on public transport knowing he had covid he must go. No ifs or buts
No, no, no. This sort of weakness is what debilitates governments; brashness makes them invincible. Just brush it off and say that the matter had been dealt with and is now closed. The end.
You think all those people who have been unable to visit parents, attend funerals, see grandchildren for months are going to shrug it off because Cummings is an he's important Tory and he should be allowed to do what we can't?
If they're not tiny babies, they'll see that he made a very natural, human mistake and will at least understand the impulse. Seeing as the police took no action against him whatsoever, it's a non-story.
Oh come on! PB Tories have been routinely slagging their neighbours off with tales of minor lockdown naughtiness. All of a sudden, when it’s this fucker of all people, it’s a “very natural, human mistake”. It’s not like he failed to observe correct social distancing by 8 inches in Tescos. He wasn’t a bored teenager playing football in the park with his mates. He’s a senior government advisor, who helps set the policy he breached, who travelled (allegedly on public transport, on public transport FFS) from one end of England to another, at a relatively early stage in the outbreak, when he knew he was suffering from the virus, highly infectious, and part of a government that had, only a week before, told people not to do this very thing.
I don’t give a toss if he resigns or not but people are not going to think this is a “natural, human mistake”. This guy sets policy. He will be held to a higher standard. If he stays it will damage the Government. Their call.
The only thing that will damage the Government will be giving in to every petty Opposition demand. Time to show some strength and tell them where to stuff it.
Travelling over 200 miles with Coronavirus is petty?
If its true that Cummings travelled so that his child could be looked after then that was something the government did advise was legal under the reasonable excuse proviso of the law.
[tweet]1263945352207642626[/tweet]
He was supposed to be self isolating, he had the bug. He was now supposed to be outside for any reason. Under section 4 of the regulations he could have been detained.
I am not a lawyer. As I said, I await to see what the truth was.
If he clearly broke the law without a very good reason he should go. No ifs, no buts. If he fell under an exception (as that Tweet implies) he should stay.
If made an honest mistake he should get a strong slap on the wrist at the very least for it.
You don’t have to be a lawyer. Even the Tweet with the quote from Fields you posted clearly said that there was local authority help available if you have no “access” to family. He clearly didn’t have access to that particular part of his family because he had to break the law to get to them, so the LA fallback applied. He was in clear breach of the law and the guidance he helped draft. If you break the law you break the law. Ignorance of it, particularly from a senior government official, is no excuse.
If its true that Cummings travelled so that his child could be looked after then that was something the government did advise was legal under the reasonable excuse proviso of the law.
[tweet]1263945352207642626[/tweet]
He was supposed to be self isolating, he had the bug. He was now supposed to be outside for any reason. Under section 4 of the regulations he could have been detained.
I am not a lawyer. As I said, I await to see what the truth was.
If he clearly broke the law without a very good reason he should go. No ifs, no buts. If he fell under an exception (as that Tweet implies) he should stay.
If made an honest mistake he should get a strong slap on the wrist at the very least for it.
You don’t have to be a lawyer. Even the Tweet with the quote from Fields you posted clearly said that there was local authority help available if you have no “access” to family. He clearly didn’t have access to that particular part of his family because he had to break the law to get to them, so the LA fallback applied. He was in clear breach of the law and the guidance he helped draft. If you break the law you break the law. Ignorance of it, particularly from a senior government official, is no excuse.
I disagree. If it was legal to go to family in those circumstances then he did have access to family and had no reason to burden the Local Authority. The Local Authority is listed as the last resort.
Loving some of the detail on Guardian updates on Cummings:
"Cummings is photographed for the first time in Downing Street since recovering from the symptoms of coronavirus. He is clutching a bag containing a carton of soup, a tangerine and a carrot. "
A legal opinion that is contradicted by the DCMO in early April who said that childcare for a child if both parents are sick is a reasonable excuse.
PS I wonder who asked the DCMO that question and whether they knew about Cummings when they asked the question.
The DCMO said their was local authority help available if you didn’t have access to other family. If having to travel several hundred miles does not demonstrate lack of access, and thus the availability of LA help, I don’t know what does.
A legal opinion that is contradicted by the DCMO in early April who said that childcare for a child if both parents are sick is a reasonable excuse.
PS I wonder who asked the DCMO that question and whether they knew about Cummings when they asked the question.
The DCMO said their was local authority help available if you didn’t have access to other family. If having to travel several hundred miles does not demonstrate lack of access, and thus the availability of LA help, I don’t know what does.
How about having no family in the country? No living family?
If its true that Cummings travelled so that his child could be looked after then that was something the government did advise was legal under the reasonable excuse proviso of the law.
Loving some of the detail on Guardian updates on Cummings:
"Cummings is photographed for the first time in Downing Street since recovering from the symptoms of coronavirus. He is clutching a bag containing a carton of soup, a tangerine and a carrot. "
We have to just go for it....I think I've got eight weeks without the pub itus...fuck it. Every which way is just shit....so at least we should be able to go to the pub down some pints, and have a decent curry after....
I'd booked tickets to Brixton Academy tonight.....I've already missed out on trips to the Etihad, New York and Italy in this period..but I think missing Hooky tonight doing Joy Division at Brixton has hit me particularly hard....
I feel the same. I was last at work 2 months ago. I had just come back from a holiday in Cyprus so the memory of that sustained me a bit. I did lots of work round the flat, had to have a new central heating boiler installed and was buoyed up by the fact that I am no longer spending any money so could refill my savings account. I've been working from home, but that's dried up a bit. Last weekend I realised depression was starting to set in. It's not people: I'm having lots of Skype chats and don't really need to be within 2m of anyone. It's intellectual: I need to be out and about, exploring places, getting away from my own four walls and the local towns. I know I can now go out any distance for recreation, but there's nothing to do when you get there.
Exactly...you reach somewhere...and then, a nice pint (no), a meal (no), a film (no), a gig (no), a coffee (no) anything else (no).....it's time to go home.....and then same again tomorrow, and the day after
If that's all you want then travel is pointless anyway.
I genuinely think lockdown is messing with your head Sandy. You have gone all weird.
A legal opinion that is contradicted by the DCMO in early April who said that childcare for a child if both parents are sick is a reasonable excuse.
PS I wonder who asked the DCMO that question and whether they knew about Cummings when they asked the question.
The DCMO said their was local authority help available if you didn’t have access to other family. If having to travel several hundred miles does not demonstrate lack of access, and thus the availability of LA help, I don’t know what does.
How about having no family in the country? No living family?
If you think it’s acceptable to put other people’s lives at risk by travelling while infectious, especially when there are other options available, then I can’t help you. If you are too ill to look after kids you should also be thinking about whether driving them up the A1 for several hours is the best idea for them and other road users. Maybe even consider asking your presumably healthy parents (if they are well enough to undertake childcare) to come to London if the situation was that bad.
1. He was well enough to drive to Durham, but weirdly not well enough to look after his kids at home.
2. He's a well off individual with a wide circle of friends in and around London who could be called upon to assist in a big domestic crisis.
3. He was driving a long way (presumably stopping at services unless his family have bladders of iron) to stay with members of an at risk group.
It's inconceivable that it was reasonable, isn't it? It's nonsense on stilts.
I honestly don't know because I'm not aware of his situation at the time, has that been reported? What we do know is there are a very limited set of circumstances where travel was permitted.
Loving some of the detail on Guardian updates on Cummings:
"Cummings is photographed for the first time in Downing Street since recovering from the symptoms of coronavirus. He is clutching a bag containing a carton of soup, a tangerine and a carrot. "
If the girls are right, and not lying/hoaxing, it is potentially explosive.
This sounds like another case of the girls in question being the "wrong sort of victim" and treated as the source of the problem by the police. I hope this is put right very quickly.
1. He was well enough to drive to Durham, but weirdly not well enough to look after his kids at home.
2. He's a well off individual with a wide circle of friends in and around London who could be called upon to assist in a big domestic crisis.
3. He was driving a long way (presumably stopping at services unless his family have bladders of iron) to stay with members of an at risk group.
It's inconceivable that it was reasonable, isn't it? It's nonsense on stilts.
I honestly don't know because I'm not aware of his situation at the time, has that been reported? What we do know is there are a very limited set of circumstances where travel was permitted.
What aspect of it do you dispute?
It's undisputed fact that he personally drove to Durham with his children, with coronavirus symptoms. And his (laughable) position as expressed via the ludicrous "sources close to" line is that his excuse was to get needed help with childcare.
If its true that Cummings travelled so that his child could be looked after then that was something the government did advise was legal under the reasonable excuse proviso of the law.
From memory she was sick first and got worse than him first.
So (and I'm just guessing here) he might have been fit enough to drive bur worried that if he deteriorated like his wife then there'd be nobody to look after the kids. And it sounds like his parents had space where they could stay distanced but there probably wasn't space for them to stay distanced in their London home.
Sounds like a complex mess and the facts need to be gathered. If there's no reasonable excuse then he's broken the law and should go. If there is a reasonable excuse then he's not and can stay.
If childcare is the root of this then that's a more complicated story than having a mistress over was (that was open and shut).
Yeah, but it's shite support. Even the pitiful 'minor transgression, natural human mistake' crap on here is better than 'stuff definitely happened but we'll call it fake news, that'll sort it'.
It beats the thread full of kind and helpful strategic advice for Boris (to sack Cummings or face dreadful calamity) from posters who loathe his Government and all it stands for.
1. He was well enough to drive to Durham, but weirdly not well enough to look after his kids at home.
2. He's a well off individual with a wide circle of friends in and around London who could be called upon to assist in a big domestic crisis.
3. He was driving a long way (presumably stopping at services unless his family have bladders of iron) to stay with members of an at risk group.
It's inconceivable that it was reasonable, isn't it? It's nonsense on stilts.
I honestly don't know because I'm not aware of his situation at the time, has that been reported? What we do know is there are a very limited set of circumstances where travel was permitted.
What aspect of it do you dispute?
It's undisputed fact that he personally drove to Durham with his children, with coronavirus symptoms. And his (laughable) position as expressed via the ludicrous "sources close to" line is that his excuse was to get needed help with childcare.
It's unutterable bullshit.
How old are the children?
If the children are young then the idea someone sick may need help with childcare is not laughable. Whether its legal to get that help that way is unclear, but if it is its not laughable.
I would have agreed with this but for the fact he knew he had the bug at the time. I would love to visit my parents but I would not be willing to risk someone else’s to do so, in fact, come to think of it, what sort of sociopath visits his own elderly parents while suffering from a virus known for its deadly effects on elderly people?
Perhaps Cummings thought it a good way to inherit?
Why else drive the length of the country to stay with elderly parents, rather than self isolate in his London townhouse with enough space for a Tapestry room.
If its true that Cummings travelled so that his child could be looked after then that was something the government did advise was legal under the reasonable excuse proviso of the law.
From memory she was sick first and got worse than him first.
So (and I'm just guessing here) he might have been fit enough to drive bur worried that if he deteriorated like his wife then there'd be nobody to look after the kids. And it sounds like his parents had space where they could stay distanced but there probably wasn't space for them to stay distanced in their London home.
Sounds like a complex mess and the facts need to be gathered. If there's no reasonable excuse then he's broken the law and should go. If there is a reasonable excuse then he's not and can stay.
If childcare is the root of this then that's a more complicated story than having a mistress over was (that was open and shut).
You're not living in the real world.
In the real world, you take the advice seriously and, in this situation, you call your pals down the road and say, "look, if the worst comes to the worst, could you take the kids for a couple of days?"
You don't drive 260 miles, presumably stopping at the services on the way, with symptoms to the home of an at risk group. That would be totally fecking mental.
I would have agreed with this but for the fact he knew he had the bug at the time. I would love to visit my parents but I would not be willing to risk someone else’s to do so, in fact, come to think of it, what sort of sociopath visits his own elderly parents while suffering from a virus known for its deadly effects on elderly people?
Perhaps Cummings thought it a good way to inherit?
Why else drive the length of the country to stay with elderly parents, rather than self isolate in his London townhouse with enough space for a Tapestry room.
The story is he stayed on a different property on the same estate as the parents and they needed help with childcare. Whether that's true or not, and wheter that makes it reasonable or not, I'm not sure.
Durham Police chose to take it no further. Perhaps worth finding out why?
1. He was well enough to drive to Durham, but weirdly not well enough to look after his kids at home.
2. He's a well off individual with a wide circle of friends in and around London who could be called upon to assist in a big domestic crisis.
3. He was driving a long way (presumably stopping at services unless his family have bladders of iron) to stay with members of an at risk group.
It's inconceivable that it was reasonable, isn't it? It's nonsense on stilts.
I honestly don't know because I'm not aware of his situation at the time, has that been reported? What we do know is there are a very limited set of circumstances where travel was permitted.
What aspect of it do you dispute?
It's undisputed fact that he personally drove to Durham with his children, with coronavirus symptoms. And his (laughable) position as expressed via the ludicrous "sources close to" line is that his excuse was to get needed help with childcare.
It's unutterable bullshit.
I don't dispute anything. I'm just saying I don't know anything.
Anne Franks diary would have been a short pamphlet in Durham - snitch central 🤪
This site is full of them. The amount of moralising that goes on.
The real scandal is the lockdown - absolute insult to freedom - man sits in car to visit parents - BURN THE WITCH.
At least the USA has a sense of freedom left in its bones.
The sense of freedom that comes from threatening democratically elected officials with assault weapons. You are welcome to it.
That is why they have the right to weapons. To protect themselves from an overbearing government, not to protect themselves from criminals or animals.
So who gets to decide if the government is "overbearing"? A bunch of lard arse loonies and conspiracy theorists with guns? Can't imagine why no other sane democracy has followed that example.
USA really is nutter central these days and certainly not a paragon of freedom in the sense most of us understand the meaning of the word.
Yeah, but it's shite support. Even the pitiful 'minor transgression, natural human mistake' crap on here is better than 'stuff definitely happened but we'll call it fake news, that'll sort it'.
It beats the thread full of kind and helpful strategic advice for Boris (to sack Cummings or face dreadful calamity) from posters who loathe his Government and all it stands for.
Just booked a transatlantic trip on QM2 for next May. Figured CV-19 will either be under control by then or the trip will be cancelled and we'll get our money back.
Prices for the grill suites are pretty good atm.
Brave or foolish? - time will tell.
Enjoy your trip on a huge polluting hunk of metal that pollutes the oceans....
I fucking hate cruise ships and everything about them....
Yes, think I had gathered from previous threads that cruises were not your cup of tea.
This however is not a cruise; it's a transatlantic crossing. Totally different!
1. He was well enough to drive to Durham, but weirdly not well enough to look after his kids at home.
2. He's a well off individual with a wide circle of friends in and around London who could be called upon to assist in a big domestic crisis.
3. He was driving a long way (presumably stopping at services unless his family have bladders of iron) to stay with members of an at risk group.
It's inconceivable that it was reasonable, isn't it? It's nonsense on stilts.
I honestly don't know because I'm not aware of his situation at the time, has that been reported? What we do know is there are a very limited set of circumstances where travel was permitted.
What aspect of it do you dispute?
It's undisputed fact that he personally drove to Durham with his children, with coronavirus symptoms. And his (laughable) position as expressed via the ludicrous "sources close to" line is that his excuse was to get needed help with childcare.
It's unutterable bullshit.
How old are the children?
If the children are young then the idea someone sick may need help with childcare is not laughable. Whether its legal to get that help that way is unclear, but if it is its not laughable.
I didn't say it was laughable that he may need help with childcare, and you know that perfectly well.
I noted that someone able to drive to Durham from London obviously doesn't need help.
And a well-connected bloke doesn't need to take that trip at all - if there is a crisis, there was certain to be ample support available within minutes of his home.
1. What actually happened? Because either Dominic Cummings was too ill to look after a young child or he could drive 250 miles. There isn’t an overlap in that Venn diagram. And the accounts he and his wife put out (presumably on a paid basis) seem to have been at best ludicrously misleading.
2. Did Dominic Cummings’ decision lead to a change in government guidance? This looks distinctly possible on the time line we currently have.
3. When did Boris Johnson know? The story is weeks old but the Prime Minister has taken no action before now.
4. How does the government intend to claim moral authority when it wants the public to follow its guidance in future?
PMQs is shaping up for peak popcorn sales if Cummings is still in post at Wed PM.
I would have agreed with this but for the fact he knew he had the bug at the time. I would love to visit my parents but I would not be willing to risk someone else’s to do so, in fact, come to think of it, what sort of sociopath visits his own elderly parents while suffering from a virus known for its deadly effects on elderly people?
Perhaps Cummings thought it a good way to inherit?
Why else drive the length of the country to stay with elderly parents, rather than self isolate in his London townhouse with enough space for a Tapestry room.
The story is he stayed on a different property on the same estate as the parents and they needed help with childcare. Whether that's true or not, and wheter that makes it reasonable or not, I'm not sure.
Durham Police chose to take it no further. Perhaps worth finding out why?
Because they are only fining the little people, I bet.
Anne Franks diary would have been a short pamphlet in Durham - snitch central 🤪
This site is full of them. The amount of moralising that goes on.
The real scandal is the lockdown - absolute insult to freedom - man sits in car to visit parents - BURN THE WITCH.
At least the USA has a sense of freedom left in its bones.
The sense of freedom that comes from threatening democratically elected officials with assault weapons. You are welcome to it.
That is why they have the right to weapons. To protect themselves from an overbearing government, not to protect themselves from criminals or animals.
So who gets to decide if the government is "overbearing"? A bunch of lard arse loonies and conspiracy theorists with guns? Can't imagine why no other sane democracy has followed that example.
USA really is nutter central these days and certainly not a paragon of freedom in the sense most of us understand the meaning of the word.
Yes. The populace with the weapons gets to decide it, that is the argument that its proponents make.
1. What actually happened? Because either Dominic Cummings was too ill to look after a young child or he could drive 250 miles. There isn’t an overlap in that Venn diagram. And the accounts he and his wife put out (presumably on a paid basis) seem to have been at best ludicrously misleading.
2. Did Dominic Cummings’ decision lead to a change in government guidance? This looks distinctly possible on the time line we currently have.
3. When did Boris Johnson know? The story is weeks old but the Prime Minister has taken no action before now.
4. How does the government intend to claim moral authority when it wants the public to follow its guidance in future?
PMQs is shaping up for peak popcorn sales if Cummings is still in post at Wed PM.
I would have agreed with this but for the fact he knew he had the bug at the time. I would love to visit my parents but I would not be willing to risk someone else’s to do so, in fact, come to think of it, what sort of sociopath visits his own elderly parents while suffering from a virus known for its deadly effects on elderly people?
Perhaps Cummings thought it a good way to inherit?
Why else drive the length of the country to stay with elderly parents, rather than self isolate in his London townhouse with enough space for a Tapestry room.
If that were the case he'd have been at the in laws castle at Chillingham. And yes. The scourge of the elites married into a family who live in a castle. As you do.
I would have agreed with this but for the fact he knew he had the bug at the time. I would love to visit my parents but I would not be willing to risk someone else’s to do so, in fact, come to think of it, what sort of sociopath visits his own elderly parents while suffering from a virus known for its deadly effects on elderly people?
Perhaps Cummings thought it a good way to inherit?
Why else drive the length of the country to stay with elderly parents, rather than self isolate in his London townhouse with enough space for a Tapestry room.
The story is he stayed on a different property on the same estate as the parents and they needed help with childcare. Whether that's true or not, and wheter that makes it reasonable or not, I'm not sure.
Durham Police chose to take it no further. Perhaps worth finding out why?
So if he was in a different property, how did his parents look after the child?
Incidentally, a child who had just spent 6 hours in an enclosed space with a Covid-19 suspect.
Durham Police chose to take it no further. Perhaps worth finding out why?
I'm baffled why you think that's a good argument. Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the case everyone can tell you why the police chose to take it no further for him, but would have fined or detained someone else.
He's part of the elite and we aren't.
Not a good look to draw attention to that aspect of the case.
Yeah, but it's shite support. Even the pitiful 'minor transgression, natural human mistake' crap on here is better than 'stuff definitely happened but we'll call it fake news, that'll sort it'.
It beats the thread full of kind and helpful strategic advice for Boris (to sack Cummings or face dreadful calamity) from posters who loathe his Government and all it stands for.
"Do as I say, not as I do"?
Is that the new government slogan for the podiums tommorow?
If Cummings broke the law sack him - I really don't give a toss. If he didn't then move on. On a day companies like Shearings and Hertz are going to the wall and a couple of days ago RR shed 9000 jobs I'm far more concerned about the economic shitstorm that was round the corner but is clearly now upon us. End the lockdown.
Yeah, but it's shite support. Even the pitiful 'minor transgression, natural human mistake' crap on here is better than 'stuff definitely happened but we'll call it fake news, that'll sort it'.
It beats the thread full of kind and helpful strategic advice for Boris (to sack Cummings or face dreadful calamity) from posters who loathe his Government and all it stands for.
"Do as I say, not as I do"?
Is that the new government slogan for the podiums tommorow?
1. He was well enough to drive to Durham, but weirdly not well enough to look after his kids at home.
2. He's a well off individual with a wide circle of friends in and around London who could be called upon to assist in a big domestic crisis.
3. He was driving a long way (presumably stopping at services unless his family have bladders of iron) to stay with members of an at risk group.
It's inconceivable that it was reasonable, isn't it? It's nonsense on stilts.
I honestly don't know because I'm not aware of his situation at the time, has that been reported? What we do know is there are a very limited set of circumstances where travel was permitted.
What aspect of it do you dispute?
It's undisputed fact that he personally drove to Durham with his children, with coronavirus symptoms. And his (laughable) position as expressed via the ludicrous "sources close to" line is that his excuse was to get needed help with childcare.
It's unutterable bullshit.
How old are the children?
If the children are young then the idea someone sick may need help with childcare is not laughable. Whether its legal to get that help that way is unclear, but if it is its not laughable.
Perhaps Dom C's actions weren't technically outside the rules. Though the idea that two wealthy professionals can't come up with a better emergency childcare plan than driving the length of the country to stay with elderly parents is odd, to put it mildly.
But that's not the point. What happens next depends on the politics and whether Dom C is not more trouble to the government than he's worth. And that doesn't help the government.
One of the things that the Gove-Cummings-Johnson axis has been good at for ages is the kind of headline semi-truth. Not lies as such, but not the whole truth either. "Britain stands alone", "Enemies of promise", "£ 350 million a week", "Get Brexit Done". Primary coloured and forcing opponents to sound like quibbling ponceyboots when they point out that it's more complicated than that, or that there's a process to go through.
Here's the first time I can remember that the situation has been reversed. The headline is "PM's Brain Broke Lockdown While Sick, Went To Stay With Parents." If the only response is to quibble details, then it's going to be hard to survive. Not impossible, but hard.
I would have agreed with this but for the fact he knew he had the bug at the time. I would love to visit my parents but I would not be willing to risk someone else’s to do so, in fact, come to think of it, what sort of sociopath visits his own elderly parents while suffering from a virus known for its deadly effects on elderly people?
Perhaps Cummings thought it a good way to inherit?
Why else drive the length of the country to stay with elderly parents, rather than self isolate in his London townhouse with enough space for a Tapestry room.
The story is he stayed on a different property on the same estate as the parents and they needed help with childcare. Whether that's true or not, and wheter that makes it reasonable or not, I'm not sure.
Durham Police chose to take it no further. Perhaps worth finding out why?
So if he was in a different property, how did his parents look after the child?
Incidentally, a child who had just spent 6 hours in an enclosed space with a Covid-19 suspect.
I don't know and that needs answering. That's why I said I think we need the full facts quickly.
If there's a reasonable explanation then fair enough, as it would be for anyone. If there's not then he should go. No ifs, no buts.
Saying childcare puts the element of doubt into my mind, but is it reasonable doubt? I'm not convinced. Far from it as it stands.
Sometimes Sunil can go overdo repeating the same point. But here it bears repetition. Cos it actually cuts through the legalistic defences. And sums it up for me.
Durham Police chose to take it no further. Perhaps worth finding out why?
I'm baffled why you think that's a good argument. Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the case everyone can tell you why the police chose to take it no further for him, but would have fined or detained someone else.
He's part of the elite and we aren't.
Not a good look to draw attention to that aspect of the case.
If the reason why is that he is elite then that is a bad reason why and not a reasonable excuse and he should go and the Police should answer questions too.
If the reason why is that the Police thought the childcare reason was reasonable and dropped the case then that is suggesting perhaps it did fall under reasonable excuse rules.
If Cummings broke the law sack him - I really don't give a toss. If he didn't then move on. On a day companies like Shearings and Hertz are going to the wall and a couple of days ago RR shed 9000 jobs I'm far more concerned about the economic shitstorm that was round the corner but is clearly now upon us. End the lockdown.
The two are connected.
One reason the economy is falling to pieces is due to the lockdown. The lockdown where we all had to follow the rules, we all had to pay the price of isolation and economic damage, so that we could save lives. All of us except our betters, of course.
I bet they won't have to suffer from the economic damage either.
1. What actually happened? Because either Dominic Cummings was too ill to look after a young child or he could drive 250 miles. There isn’t an overlap in that Venn diagram. And the accounts he and his wife put out (presumably on a paid basis) seem to have been at best ludicrously misleading.
2. Did Dominic Cummings’ decision lead to a change in government guidance? This looks distinctly possible on the time line we currently have.
3. When did Boris Johnson know? The story is weeks old but the Prime Minister has taken no action before now.
4. How does the government intend to claim moral authority when it wants the public to follow its guidance in future?
PMQs is shaping up for peak popcorn sales if Cummings is still in post at Wed PM.
I would have agreed with this but for the fact he knew he had the bug at the time. I would love to visit my parents but I would not be willing to risk someone else’s to do so, in fact, come to think of it, what sort of sociopath visits his own elderly parents while suffering from a virus known for its deadly effects on elderly people?
Perhaps Cummings thought it a good way to inherit?
Why else drive the length of the country to stay with elderly parents, rather than self isolate in his London townhouse with enough space for a Tapestry room.
If that were the case he'd have been at the in laws castle at Chillingham. And yes. The scourge of the elites married into a family who live in a castle. As you do.
Quite a famous castle too. It has an exceptionally rare herd of ancient white cattle, possibly related to the auroch
Indeed they are. Exceptionally eerie to look at. On a misty morning. Like looking back into pre history. Unfortunately I live rather close to all this, and am less sanguine than others about a bloke knowingly bringing the Rona up from that there London when it was rampant. Particularly when Londoners are now telling us to Unlock when it is far from clear it is under control up here. Hey ho! We'll just take it back down I guess.
Most media types are metropolitan, north london brigade, who, compared to rest of UK, have been most exposed to all this. Lots and lots of the plague around, lockdown particularly stark in a world size city (e.g. bridges across the Thames empty etc).
So I predict they are gonna go absolutely bananas at Cummings.
Yeah, but it's shite support. Even the pitiful 'minor transgression, natural human mistake' crap on here is better than 'stuff definitely happened but we'll call it fake news, that'll sort it'.
It beats the thread full of kind and helpful strategic advice for Boris (to sack Cummings or face dreadful calamity) from posters who loathe his Government and all it stands for.
"Do as I say, not as I do"?
Is that the new government slogan for the podiums tommorow?
I think 'Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law' would be quite appropriate.
I would have agreed with this but for the fact he knew he had the bug at the time. I would love to visit my parents but I would not be willing to risk someone else’s to do so, in fact, come to think of it, what sort of sociopath visits his own elderly parents while suffering from a virus known for its deadly effects on elderly people?
Perhaps Cummings thought it a good way to inherit?
Why else drive the length of the country to stay with elderly parents, rather than self isolate in his London townhouse with enough space for a Tapestry room.
If that were the case he'd have been at the in laws castle at Chillingham. And yes. The scourge of the elites married into a family who live in a castle. As you do.
Quite a famous castle too. It has an exceptionally rare herd of ancient white cattle, possibly related to the auroch
Indeed they are. Exceptionally eerie to look at. On a misty morning. Like looking back into pre history. Unfortunately I live rather close to all this, and am less sanguine than others about a bloke knowingly bringing the Rona up from that there London when it was rampant. Particularly when Londoners are now telling us to Unlock when it is far from clear it is under control up here. Hey ho! We'll just take it back down I guess.
Yes, the peak in the NE was a couple of weeks after London's as I recall. Presumably from a superspreader or two travelling from a Covid-19 hotspot.
If he was the public face of the UK or Scottish government response (for example) then the case for his resignation would be stronger. Meanwhile Labour will make hay (It's their job) and nothing much will change.
I would have agreed with this but for the fact he knew he had the bug at the time. I would love to visit my parents but I would not be willing to risk someone else’s to do so, in fact, come to think of it, what sort of sociopath visits his own elderly parents while suffering from a virus known for its deadly effects on elderly people?
Perhaps Cummings thought it a good way to inherit?
Why else drive the length of the country to stay with elderly parents, rather than self isolate in his London townhouse with enough space for a Tapestry room.
If that were the case he'd have been at the in laws castle at Chillingham. And yes. The scourge of the elites married into a family who live in a castle. As you do.
Quite a famous castle too. It has an exceptionally rare herd of ancient white cattle, possibly related to the auroch
Indeed they are. Exceptionally eerie to look at. On a misty morning. Like looking back into pre history. Unfortunately I live rather close to all this, and am less sanguine than others about a bloke knowingly bringing the Rona up from that there London when it was rampant. Particularly when Londoners are now telling us to Unlock when it is far from clear it is under control up here. Hey ho! We'll just take it back down I guess.
Yes, the peak in the NE was a couple of weeks after London's as I recall. Presumably from a superspreader or two travelling from a Covid-19 hotspot.
Yep. So we are 2-3 weeks behind. Meanwhile, all we get from the Capital is "Time for a pint."
"Boris Johnson to reduce Huawei’s role in Britain’s 5G network in the wake of coronavirus outbreak The Prime Minister has instructed officials to draw up plans that would see China’s involvement in the UK's 5G network reduced to zero"
"Boris Johnson forced to reduce Huawei’s role in UK’s 5G networks PM set to shrink Chinese firm’s involvement to zero by 2023 after caving to backbench pressure"
If he was the public face of the UK or Scottish government response (for example) then the case for his resignation would be stronger. Meanwhile Labour will make hay (It's their job) and nothing much will change.
The issue isn't Cummings. It's Johnson.
Gone by Monday. I think more people know the joke about Cummings pulling all the strings on Boris than you imagine.
Comments
My guess would be TGOHF and HYUFD would be ultras?
RobD and Phillip Thomson probably but I would hope not?
BigG Floater Felix probably critical?
And here's the thing. It feels good. There's no guilt, only relief. At seeing other people again. At feeling human again. At wondering what the fuss was all about.
And you realise you'd rather get the bloody disease than ever go through lockdown again.
That is the revelation that about half the country has had over the last week or so. And that is why the Cummings story is a non-story.
1. What actually happened? Because either Dominic Cummings was too ill to look after a young child or he could drive 250 miles. There isn’t an overlap in that Venn diagram. And the accounts he and his wife put out (presumably on a paid basis) seem to have been at best ludicrously misleading.
2. Did Dominic Cummings’ decision lead to a change in government guidance? This looks distinctly possible on the time line we currently have.
3. When did Boris Johnson know? The story is weeks old but the Prime Minister has taken no action before now.
4. How does the government intend to claim moral authority when it wants the public to follow its guidance in future?
https://twitter.com/ameliajaneboo/status/1263945352207642626
https://twitter.com/spectatorindex/status/1263944498507210752?s=21
Or travel over 200 mile with Coronavirus?
I must have missed that
Seriously mate have you no self respect?
If he clearly broke the law without a very good reason he should go. No ifs, no buts.
If he fell under an exception (as that Tweet implies) he should stay.
If made an honest mistake he should get a strong slap on the wrist at the very least for it.
Takes all sorts.
https://twitter.com/GeorgePeretzQC/status/1263950955457982466
PS I wonder who asked the DCMO that question and whether they knew about Cummings when they asked the question.
"Cummings is photographed for the first time in Downing Street since recovering from the symptoms of coronavirus. He is clutching a bag containing a carton of soup, a tangerine and a carrot. "
Yup, no surprise there then.
Was his action a reasonable excuse. The DCMO seemed to say in April that it was. If it wasn't then he should go.
1. He was well enough to drive to Durham, but weirdly not well enough to look after his kids at home.
2. He's a well off individual with a wide circle of friends in and around London who could be called upon to assist in a big domestic crisis.
3. He was driving a long way (presumably stopping at services unless his family have bladders of iron) to stay with members of an at risk group.
It's inconceivable that it was reasonable, isn't it? It's nonsense on stilts.
It's undisputed fact that he personally drove to Durham with his children, with coronavirus symptoms. And his (laughable) position as expressed via the ludicrous "sources close to" line is that his excuse was to get needed help with childcare.
It's unutterable bullshit.
So (and I'm just guessing here) he might have been fit enough to drive bur worried that if he deteriorated like his wife then there'd be nobody to look after the kids. And it sounds like his parents had space where they could stay distanced but there probably wasn't space for them to stay distanced in their London home.
Sounds like a complex mess and the facts need to be gathered. If there's no reasonable excuse then he's broken the law and should go. If there is a reasonable excuse then he's not and can stay.
If childcare is the root of this then that's a more complicated story than having a mistress over was (that was open and shut).
Is there some kind of correlation between having a populist leader and experiencing a bad Covid-19 outcome? Just asking.
PS Cases rising rapidly in India too.
If the children are young then the idea someone sick may need help with childcare is not laughable. Whether its legal to get that help that way is unclear, but if it is its not laughable.
Why else drive the length of the country to stay with elderly parents, rather than self isolate in his London townhouse with enough space for a Tapestry room.
In the real world, you take the advice seriously and, in this situation, you call your pals down the road and say, "look, if the worst comes to the worst, could you take the kids for a couple of days?"
You don't drive 260 miles, presumably stopping at the services on the way, with symptoms to the home of an at risk group. That would be totally fecking mental.
Durham Police chose to take it no further. Perhaps worth finding out why?
USA really is nutter central these days and certainly not a paragon of freedom in the sense most of us understand the meaning of the word.
This however is not a cruise; it's a transatlantic crossing. Totally different!
I noted that someone able to drive to Durham from London obviously doesn't need help.
And a well-connected bloke doesn't need to take that trip at all - if there is a crisis, there was certain to be ample support available within minutes of his home.
And yes. The scourge of the elites married into a family who live in a castle.
As you do.
Incidentally, a child who had just spent 6 hours in an enclosed space with a Covid-19 suspect.
He's part of the elite and we aren't.
Not a good look to draw attention to that aspect of the case.
Has own radio show. Oh dear. looking bad for Downing Street
You do what the science says.
We are all in this together.
They might get arrested by Derbyshire's finest.
But that's not the point. What happens next depends on the politics and whether Dom C is not more trouble to the government than he's worth. And that doesn't help the government.
One of the things that the Gove-Cummings-Johnson axis has been good at for ages is the kind of headline semi-truth. Not lies as such, but not the whole truth either. "Britain stands alone", "Enemies of promise", "£ 350 million a week", "Get Brexit Done". Primary coloured and forcing opponents to sound like quibbling ponceyboots when they point out that it's more complicated than that, or that there's a process to go through.
Here's the first time I can remember that the situation has been reversed. The headline is "PM's Brain Broke Lockdown While Sick, Went To Stay With Parents." If the only response is to quibble details, then it's going to be hard to survive. Not impossible, but hard.
If there's a reasonable explanation then fair enough, as it would be for anyone.
If there's not then he should go. No ifs, no buts.
Saying childcare puts the element of doubt into my mind, but is it reasonable doubt? I'm not convinced. Far from it as it stands.
But here it bears repetition.
Cos it actually cuts through the legalistic defences.
And sums it up for me.
https://twitter.com/ChrisRGollop/status/1263942550534213632
https://twitter.com/janemerrick23/status/1263946798789427200
If the reason why is that the Police thought the childcare reason was reasonable and dropped the case then that is suggesting perhaps it did fall under reasonable excuse rules.
One reason the economy is falling to pieces is due to the lockdown. The lockdown where we all had to follow the rules, we all had to pay the price of isolation and economic damage, so that we could save lives. All of us except our betters, of course.
I bet they won't have to suffer from the economic damage either.
https://twitter.com/janemerrick23/status/1263953397268582400
Gone by Monday evening.
Unfortunately I live rather close to all this, and am less sanguine than others about a bloke knowingly bringing the Rona up from that there London when it was rampant.
Particularly when Londoners are now telling us to Unlock when it is far from clear it is under control up here.
Hey ho! We'll just take it back down I guess.
So I predict they are gonna go absolutely bananas at Cummings.
It's gonna be a special one.
A whole weekend of this.
Ali Campbell told all spinners and advisors never to become the story. LOL
https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1263969364627374080
https://twitter.com/AndrewCooper__/status/1263927346811277312
https://twitter.com/MatthewdAncona/status/1263948335565733891?s=20
If he was the public face of the UK or Scottish government response (for example) then the case for his resignation would be stronger. Meanwhile Labour will make hay (It's their job) and nothing much will change.
The issue isn't Cummings. It's Johnson.
The Prime Minister has instructed officials to draw up plans that would see China’s involvement in the UK's 5G network reduced to zero"
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/05/22/boris-johnson-reduce-huaweis-role-britains-5g-network-wake-coronavirus/
"Boris Johnson forced to reduce Huawei’s role in UK’s 5G networks
PM set to shrink Chinese firm’s involvement to zero by 2023 after caving to backbench pressure"
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/22/boris-johnson-forced-to-reduce-huaweis-role-in-uks-5g-networks