My father has said by his reckoning Cummings has broken quarantine (not just lockdown) at least three times. That's utterly criminal from a public health point of view.
It certainly looks like it. First when he went back to work after being with his wife. Second when he drove his family up to Durham. Third when he drove to Barnard Castle while still symptomatic.
That's two more breaches than we knew about before.
My father has said by his reckoning Cummings has broken quarantine (not just lockdown) at least three times. That's utterly criminal from a public health point of view.
Yes, but he was uniquely worried, and uniquely busy, and uniquely had an ill child. Checkmate your Honour.
hard to understand why he did not resign, work as freelance behind the scenes and come back when the dust had settled. They have just made such a hash of it with their arrogance and thinking they can just do what they want. Hopefully it will teach him a lesson on how he should treat people.
All this driving around to/from and around County Durham from London. Didn’t he stop anywhere for fuel?
Is it clear that putting some petrol in a tank and paying with a credit card at the pump ... as we are advised to do ... would be an existential death risk to the country?
Now - let's get the economy restarted and the pubs open!
You plebs can go to the pub!
I just want to feel safe enough to be able to complete my conquest of ScotRail by doing those last two trains west and north of Inverness.
Strong call Sunil - I have done both the lines, both are well worth doing and each offer spectacular but quite contrasting views. You should be able to go in July - do it.
Which one do you prefer? I think the Far Northern is just a touch better, although it doesn’t have that wonderful finish alongside Loch Carron.
And when he got back down to London, and back into work, he and Boris were both still feeling so ill that they can’t remember what he told him. But he’d just driven 260 miles back to London despite feeling that ill, still. Hmm.
@Big_G_NorthWales are you really buying this nonsense about driving to Barnard Castle to test his eyesight, which as you know, is also a breach of the rules, and has nothing to do with his kid.
If he was worried about his eyesight, he should have read a number plate at 20 metres, not gone for a drive on public roads!
That was a reasonable explanation which is what the law asks for. Same rule for everyone.
No. The law requires a reasonable excuse. Your explanation is subjective, an excuse is objective. And he admitted to driving to Barnard Castle with impared eyesight and Covid-19.
The reason I said he should go was because of the serious damage (partly down to the abject mishandling of the Government's response over several days) that was caused to Government credibility. That's not a party political concern but one that may come back to bite us all if and when future restrictions need to be imposed.
The press getting personal now. That isn't a good look. Should stick to clear concise questions. Giving it the you might justify it to yourself, yadda yadda yadda.
Now - let's get the economy restarted and the pubs open!
You plebs can go to the pub!
I just want to feel safe enough to be able to complete my conquest of ScotRail by doing those last two trains west and north of Inverness.
Strong call Sunil - I have done both the lines, both are well worth doing and each offer spectacular but quite contrasting views. You should be able to go in July - do it.
Which one do you prefer? I think the Far Northern is just a touch better, although it doesn’t have that wonderful finish alongside Loch Carron.
As preference the Far North route to Thurso/Wick - the Kyle route is prettier but the Far north route is more rugged, a bit like me!
This is epic. Really couldn't be better. He isn't going anywhere but has made the situation a whole load worse for the government.
"I left wifey who had symptoms and went back to work (at Downing Street FFS)" - not allowed "I drove 260 miles" - not allowed. "I had conversations with my parents" - not allowed. "I took a test drive with the sprog in the car to test I could see well enough to drive" - illegal "I didn't stop at all in the 5 hour trip to Durham yet the sprog needed a piss after my illegal can I see 30 minute test drive" - fuck off
Epic epic fail. I remember Black Wednesday destroying the Tories financial reputation for 2 decades. And at no point on Black Wednesday did leading SPAD David Cameron push his way to the front of Lamont's press conference and take a Giant Shit before the cameras
This is the punishment beating strategy. Take a lot of pain, absorb it all, exhaust the haters, bore everyone else
There's an episode in the West Wing when a candidate does exactly this
Blair did it during the 2005 election campaign if I remember correctly, where he went on a one-man Question Time show in front of a very hostile audience. (Or perhaps it was 2001).
"Families have put up with hardships, not going to funerals, not goling to hospital when their kids are having cancer treatment. What is so special about you? Don't you at the very least think you owe them an apology?"
Now - let's get the economy restarted and the pubs open!
You plebs can go to the pub!
I just want to feel safe enough to be able to complete my conquest of ScotRail by doing those last two trains west and north of Inverness.
Strong call Sunil - I have done both the lines, both are well worth doing and each offer spectacular but quite contrasting views. You should be able to go in July - do it.
Hopefully, mate! Hopefully! In England, there's also the brand new Trafford branch of Manchester Metrolink (opened just one day before lockdown!), and the Sunday-only Dale Rail in Lancashire (Clitheroe/Hellifield).
He went for the first drive because he thought he might be incapacitated. He went for the second drive because he thought he might not be able to drive safely! He'll survive but this is too good for people to forget.
Nice example of how important it is not to make a full statement in public until you know the case on the other side in full.
Read between the lines (and assume of course that most of his account is exculpatory nonsense).
Only yesterday the PM was not prepared to accept that DC had visited Barnard Castle. He evaded and was not pressed. At that point clearly they didn't know if it could be proved.
But today it was admitted and a weak explanation given. It has to be that even yesterday it was hoped that the the Barnard Castle thing could not be stood up and could be denied. And would have been denied if possible.
DC has done his best and it was quite well presented. The idea that it is a full and frank account is nonsense. The jigsaw has been carefully arranged to fit the shape of all the bits of evidence.
He'll survive unless and until some new data turns up.
The press didn't help themselves by running an account of a 19 April visit to Durham which rather looks as if it didn't happen.
Cummings strikes me as a Sherlock Holmes type figure, in the sense that he's a genius on some subjects but doesn't know the first thing about other topics, such as where the boundary of London is. Usually a nerd like him would know exactly where it is. (Unless he's pretending not to know).
This is epic. Really couldn't be better. He isn't going anywhere but has made the situation a whole load worse for the government.
"I left wifey who had symptoms and went back to work (at Downing Street FFS)" - not allowed "I drove 260 miles" - not allowed. "I had conversations with my parents" - not allowed. "I took a test drive with the sprog in the car to test I could see well enough to drive" - illegal "I didn't stop at all in the 5 hour trip to Durham yet the sprog needed a piss after my illegal can I see 30 minute test drive" - fuck off
Epic epic fail. I remember Black Wednesday destroying the Tories financial reputation for 2 decades. And at no point on Black Wednesday did leading SPAD David Cameron push his way to the front of Lamont's press conference and take a Giant Shit before the cameras
This is not Black Wednesday.
Millions lost their homes and jobs after Black Wednesday (and Labour was already ahead in the polls beforehand).
WTO terms Brexit combined with the economic effects of the lockdown and the deaths from Covid might be Black Wednesday but Cummings' actions are not, at most they might be the equivalent of bad tabloid headlines over Ministers' indiscretions
Those who always thought Cummings was innocent still do.
Those who thinks Cummings was guilty still do.
Have I missed anyone?
It will depend on how the news media cut the clips. As a whole it’s all reasonable explanations although outside most people’s understanding of the rules. The coverup is the real issue and leads to wider suspicions
This is epic. Really couldn't be better. He isn't going anywhere but has made the situation a whole load worse for the government.
"I left wifey who had symptoms and went back to work (at Downing Street FFS)" - not allowed "I drove 260 miles" - not allowed. "I had conversations with my parents" - not allowed. "I took a test drive with the sprog in the car to test I could see well enough to drive" - illegal "I didn't stop at all in the 5 hour trip to Durham yet the sprog needed a piss after my illegal can I see 30 minute test drive" - fuck off
Epic epic fail. I remember Black Wednesday destroying the Tories financial reputation for 2 decades. And at no point on Black Wednesday did leading SPAD David Cameron push his way to the front of Lamont's press conference and take a Giant Shit before the cameras
This is not Black Wednesday.
Correct. Black Wednesday wasn't an actual life-or-death thing. Covid-19 is.
He really better be sure that the guidance that was published AT THE TIME said all that about small children, otherwise it’ll look really really bad.
It's just that the BBC quotes him as saying "I think that I looked at the guidance, I knew what it was, it talks about exceptional circumstances with small children."
Cummings strikes me as a Sherlock Holmes type figure, in the sense that he's a genius on some subjects but doesn't know the first thing about other subjects, such as where the boundary of London is.
You can read that in some of his blogs.
Some of the drivel he has written on AI and Software Engineering has made me laugh, I speak as a Software Engineer.
The reason futurology isn't a science: who could have predicted at the start of the year that Dominic Cummings would be hosting a press conference discussing taking a toilet break at the side of the road instead of using a service station.
This is epic. Really couldn't be better. He isn't going anywhere but has made the situation a whole load worse for the government.
"I left wifey who had symptoms and went back to work (at Downing Street FFS)" - not allowed "I drove 260 miles" - not allowed. "I had conversations with my parents" - not allowed. "I took a test drive with the sprog in the car to test I could see well enough to drive" - illegal "I didn't stop at all in the 5 hour trip to Durham yet the sprog needed a piss after my illegal can I see 30 minute test drive" - fuck off
Epic epic fail. I remember Black Wednesday destroying the Tories financial reputation for 2 decades. And at no point on Black Wednesday did leading SPAD David Cameron push his way to the front of Lamont's press conference and take a Giant Shit before the cameras
This is not Black Wednesday.
Millions lost their homes and jobs after Black Wednesday (and Labour was already ahead in the polls beforehand).
WTO terms Brexit combined with the economic effects of the lockdown might be Black Wednesday but Cummimgs' actions are not, at most they might be the equivalent of bad tabloid headlines over Ministers' indiscretions
Cummings strikes me as a Sherlock Holmes type figure, in the sense that he's a genius on some subjects but doesn't know the first thing about other subjects, such as where the boundary of London is.
Quite. SH didn't know or care whether the earth went round the sun or the sun round the earth. (Study in Scarlet)
This is epic. Really couldn't be better. He isn't going anywhere but has made the situation a whole load worse for the government.
"I left wifey who had symptoms and went back to work (at Downing Street FFS)" - not allowed "I drove 260 miles" - not allowed. "I had conversations with my parents" - not allowed. "I took a test drive with the sprog in the car to test I could see well enough to drive" - illegal "I didn't stop at all in the 5 hour trip to Durham yet the sprog needed a piss after my illegal can I see 30 minute test drive" - fuck off
Epic epic fail. I remember Black Wednesday destroying the Tories financial reputation for 2 decades. And at no point on Black Wednesday did leading SPAD David Cameron push his way to the front of Lamont's press conference and take a Giant Shit before the cameras
This is not Black Wednesday.
Millions lost their homes and jobs after Black Wednesday (and Labour was already ahead in the polls beforehand).
WTO terms Brexit combined with the economic effects of the lockdown and the deaths from Covid might be Black Wednesday but Cummings' actions are not, at most they might be the equivalent of bad tabloid headlines over Ministers' indiscretions
Cummings strikes me as a Sherlock Holmes type figure, in the sense that he's a genius on some subjects but doesn't know the first thing about other subjects, such as where the boundary of London is.
You can read that in some of his blogs.
Some of the drivel he has written on AI and Software Engineering has made me laugh, I speak as a Software Engineer.
His stuff on teaching was worse, as he tried to put it into practice.
Started off okay and it then turned into a train wreck . Refusing to apologize and some pathetic excuse for popping off to Barnard Castle will be what most people remember .
This is epic. Really couldn't be better. He isn't going anywhere but has made the situation a whole load worse for the government.
"I left wifey who had symptoms and went back to work (at Downing Street FFS)" - not allowed "I drove 260 miles" - not allowed. "I had conversations with my parents" - not allowed. "I took a test drive with the sprog in the car to test I could see well enough to drive" - illegal "I didn't stop at all in the 5 hour trip to Durham yet the sprog needed a piss after my illegal can I see 30 minute test drive" - fuck off
Epic epic fail. I remember Black Wednesday destroying the Tories financial reputation for 2 decades. And at no point on Black Wednesday did leading SPAD David Cameron push his way to the front of Lamont's press conference and take a Giant Shit before the cameras
This is not Black Wednesday.
Millions lost their homes and jobs after Black Wednesday (and Labour was already ahead in the polls beforehand).
WTO terms Brexit combined with the economic effects of the lockdown and the deaths from Covid might be Black Wednesday but Cummings' actions are not, at most they might be the equivalent of bad tabloid headlines over Ministers' indiscretions
The UK government’s worst-in-class (except for parts of the US) response to coronavirus is Black Wednesday. This is singing in the bath. That was what everyone remembered.
God this is boring. He looks like a harassed teacher at parent-teacher evening (trestle table and shirt) having to justify giving some hectoring parents' kid a fail.
The main thing that Cummings is good at is conning gullible people. I suppose some are watching this with limited critical faculty but that’s his only hope. I think most will be able to spot it miles away, not the outward show but the frantic dissembling underneath it all.
Cummings strikes me as a Sherlock Holmes type figure, in the sense that he's a genius on some subjects but doesn't know the first thing about other subjects, such as where the boundary of London is.
You can read that in some of his blogs.
Some of the drivel he has written on AI and Software Engineering has made me laugh, I speak as a Software Engineer.
His stuff on teaching was worse, as he tried to put it into practice.
Edit - who was that? She was very good.
Those education reforms were dreadful, as some of my teaching friends have told me.
I think he was unwise, made mistakes, but he will have some sympathy following this interview
He probably will have more sympathy, but at the same time he's broken quarantine. He went home to his wife, who was showing covid symptoms, then returns to work? Inexcusable anywhere, but when you work at the heart of government, in the middle of a pandemic .....
Regardless of the technicalities of the law, and even ignoring the whole Durham travel, this alone should cost him his job.
The Barnard Castle stuff is bollocks, but I don't really care about that. It didn't risk anyone else. Returning to Downing Street did, and could have had huge consequences for the country.
Comments
That's two more breaches than we knew about before.
Hopefully it will teach him a lesson on how he should treat people.
But he’d just driven 260 miles back to London despite feeling that ill, still.
Hmm.
The reason I said he should go was because of the serious damage (partly down to the abject mishandling of the Government's response over several days) that was caused to Government credibility. That's not a party political concern but one that may come back to bite us all if and when future restrictions need to be imposed.
The question of course if he is telling the truth, (Big if) is why did he rely on his own guidance and not ask the appropriate authorities?
Edit - questions getting harder and he’s clearly at a loss.
"No"
That's the killer.
No contrition whatsoever
Can anyone identity that reference?
"I left wifey who had symptoms and went back to work (at Downing Street FFS)" - not allowed
"I drove 260 miles" - not allowed.
"I had conversations with my parents" - not allowed.
"I took a test drive with the sprog in the car to test I could see well enough to drive" - illegal
"I didn't stop at all in the 5 hour trip to Durham yet the sprog needed a piss after my illegal can I see 30 minute test drive" - fuck off
Epic epic fail. I remember Black Wednesday destroying the Tories financial reputation for 2 decades. And at no point on Black Wednesday did leading SPAD David Cameron push his way to the front of Lamont's press conference and take a Giant Shit before the cameras
Those who always thought Cummings was innocent still do.
Those who thinks Cummings was guilty still do.
Have I missed anyone?
What a piece of work.
Um...I hate to break it to you, but you’re wrong.
A beautiful moment.
"No."
I predict they'll back down.
The questions have made it worse.
Read between the lines (and assume of course that most of his account is exculpatory nonsense).
Only yesterday the PM was not prepared to accept that DC had visited Barnard Castle. He evaded and was not pressed. At that point clearly they didn't know if it could be proved.
But today it was admitted and a weak explanation given. It has to be that even yesterday it was hoped that the the Barnard Castle thing could not be stood up and could be denied. And would have been denied if possible.
DC has done his best and it was quite well presented. The idea that it is a full and frank account is nonsense. The jigsaw has been carefully arranged to fit the shape of all the bits of evidence.
He'll survive unless and until some new data turns up.
The press didn't help themselves by running an account of a 19 April visit to Durham which rather looks as if it didn't happen.
Millions lost their homes and jobs after Black Wednesday (and Labour was already ahead in the polls beforehand).
WTO terms Brexit combined with the economic effects of the lockdown and the deaths from Covid might be Black Wednesday but Cummings' actions are not, at most they might be the equivalent of bad tabloid headlines over Ministers' indiscretions
In case you hadn't noticed.
Was it not something that had been said orally?
Some of the drivel he has written on AI and Software Engineering has made me laugh, I speak as a Software Engineer.
The last two questions have kneecapped him. This journalist now has hammered him into a million pieces here. She’s running rings round him.
The guardian have questions to answer
- I think it was a reasonable thing to do.
Edit - who was that? She was very good.
Question. Was driving to Durham worse than shagging one's mistress during lockdown? Answer No
"I don't know... I have to protect the Prime Minister's time".
How long does a text message take to read?
Regardless of the technicalities of the law, and even ignoring the whole Durham travel, this alone should cost him his job.
The Barnard Castle stuff is bollocks, but I don't really care about that. It didn't risk anyone else. Returning to Downing Street did, and could have had huge consequences for the country.