Poll: Do you think Dominic Cummings should be sacked by Boris Johnson?

Boris Johnson has pledged his support to his embattled aide despite a ministerial resignation and growing calls for Cummings to be sacked.

On Friday it was revealed that Mr Cummings had taken a 260 mile trip from London to his parents’ property in Durham in late March when he and his wife should have been self-isolating at home.

Amid growing calls for his top adviser’s resignation, Boris Johnson told the public on Sunday that he was satisfied with Mr Cumming’s explanation of his actions, and said he had not broken lockdown regulations.

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But questions about his trip to the Northeast of England continued, with growing accusations that the government was applying double standards to one of its advisers, after thousands of ordinary people received police fines for lockdown infringements.

On Monday afternoon, Mr Cummings took the unprecedented step of holding a live press conference in the Rose Garden in Downing Street, where he claimed he and his wife had made the trip to Durham for the sake of their four-year old son.

Worried that they would both become too ill to look after him, Mr Cummings said he reasoned that staying at a small cottage on his father’s farm would mean one of his relatives could take care of his son if either he or his wife were incapacitated.

He claimed all of the couple’s usual childcare options in London were unavailable.

Addressing claims that he had broken lockdown rules for a second time while in Durham, by driving his family to Barnard Castle - a local beauty spot - Mr Cummings said he had wanted to test his eyesight before driving home to London.

Boris Johnson has pledged his support to his embattled aide despite a ministerial resignation and growing calls for Cummings to be sacked.Boris Johnson has pledged his support to his embattled aide despite a ministerial resignation and growing calls for Cummings to be sacked.
Boris Johnson has pledged his support to his embattled aide despite a ministerial resignation and growing calls for Cummings to be sacked.

He drew particular criticism for saying he did not regret any of his decisions, and repeatedly refused to apologise.

Earlier today, Douglas Ross, a government minister in the Scottish Office, resigned over the debacle, telling the Prime Minister "I have constituents who didn't get to say goodbye to loved ones; families who could not mourn together; people who didn't visit sick relatives because they followed the guidance of the Government.

"I cannot in good faith tell them they were all wrong and one senior adviser to the Government was right.”

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