Should those in the public eye resign for breaking lockdown rules?

Cummings is in a privileged position with friends in high places who got him out of trouble when he broke the rules.
Boris wont be there for eveyone who breaks the rules and 2 wrongs don't make a right.
''He did it so I can do it'' is no defence.
The virus is still out there

Totally agree. Unfortunately a significant number of people will now think they can do as they please now.
 
Cummings is in a privileged position with friends in high places who got him out of trouble when he broke the rules.
Boris wont be there for eveyone who breaks the rules and 2 wrongs don't make a right.
''He did it so I can do it'' is no defence.
The virus is still out there
The last sentence is the critical part that people may well forget in a rush to prove a point. Cummings put his parents at risk by going up there, apart from members of the general public potentially. If people rush to see their parents and inlaws in order to "show the govt" then what they are actually doing is putting them at risk. Don't be as stupid or selfish as Cummings, protect your elderly relatives still.
 
The last sentence is the critical part that people may well forget in a rush to prove a point. Cummings put his parents at risk by going up there, apart from members of the general public potentially. If people rush to see their parents and inlaws in order to "show the govt" then what they are actually doing is putting them at risk. Don't be as stupid or selfish as Cummings, protect your elderly relatives still.
Maybe someone could highlight this point to my brother and sister, idiots decided if it's ok for Cummings then ite okay for them and went to visit my parents yesterday together in the same car which would effectively bring 3 separate households together ?

Fortunately my dad didn't answer the door and made them stand outside porch seeing them through the glass. Absolute idiotic behaviour ?
 
Its had the ringing endorsement of another Gov minister who was sacked for lying and breaking the Official secrets act, what more do you need;)

I saw that, Minister who was sacked for lying to PM May says Cummings would not lie to the PM.:ROFLMAO:
What a bunch of Charlatans, lying their socks off to save themselves and their leader.
I wonder how history will judge them.
 
Cummings should go. It’s now an unrecoverable position. The Tories have handled this awfully, their credibility has took more than a knock and it kind of reinforces some of the elitist ‘do as I say not as I do’ views they’ve previously been slated for.

The paparazzi outside Cummings’ house yesterday and the media outlets they serve are just as bad. All huddled together. Ironic, especially the charver in the face-mask. How that is ok I’ll never know.
 
The last sentence is the critical part that people may well forget in a rush to prove a point. Cummings put his parents at risk by going up there, apart from members of the general public potentially. If people rush to see their parents and inlaws in order to "show the govt" then what they are actually doing is putting them at risk. Don't be as stupid or selfish as Cummings, protect your elderly relatives still.
Did he actually meet his parents? I thought he was in a separate house.
 
Fact 5. Both him, Downing Street and his family said they never spoke or were spoken to by police. But Police say they did twice.
His family and his household are two different things. The police used the word 'family' meaning his parents. It appears they did not speak to anyone in his household.
 
I just wonder why if Cummings was so sure that driving to Durham was perfectly acceptable, his wife's article in The Spectator about their covid experience doesn't mention being in Durham at all.
She even mentions emerging "from quarantine into the almost comical uncertainty of London lockdown". No mention of having to drive 4 hours back to London
 
I just wonder why if Cummings was so sure that driving to Durham was perfectly acceptable, his wife's article in The Spectator about their covid experience doesn't mention being in Durham at all.
She even mentions emerging "from quarantine into the almost comical uncertainty of London lockdown". No mention of having to drive 4 hours back to London

Yes, you thought she might have mentioned the beautiful sight of bluebells in the woods, or the lovely walk beside the river in Barnard Castle.
 
His family and his household are two different things. The police used the word 'family' meaning his parents. It appears they did not speak to anyone in his household.
I would think household covers all the buildings on the property.
So he broke the recommendations then his father called the police to make sure he was safe.
Safe from who? The public by the looks of it, you couldn’t make this up it’s really poor from Cummings.
 
Right, I’ve had a couple of days to think about this now. If I take Cummings explanation at face value (And I’m not sure that I do as there appears to be glaring holes in it), then I might have done exactly the same thing in his situation. If the welfare of my children was at risk, and there was (inexplicably) no one in London that I could rely on then I would’ve travelled to be closer to family...

However, where we differ is that once it became known that I’d done this I’d have immediately resigned.
Sometimes bad situations force us to make bad decisions. I understand that completely. To compound that bad decision with further bad decisions is unforgivable...
 
I am not defending Cummings because I think , with his connections and resources he could have handled his problem differently.

The problem was potentially serious.
His wife had symptoms: he knew he would get them.
He assumed rightly that they would both get Covid, and they had a four yr old son to look after.
Chances were they would soon be so affected that they could not look after him.
They might even finish up in hospital.

(As an aside, this scenario could be the one for thousands of young couples.)

So, how to best care for the boy.? He needs to go to someone to look after him.
before they maybe become incapacitated.

Best I can make out, Cummings has a sister up North. His parents are there too.

Can she drive down to pick up the boy?
If not able to drive, is there someone who can drive her?
If not, can she transport the boy at all?

If not, who can?
What about her relatives? Can they help re transport.?

Being in the job he has, no doubt there are aides who can do so, but will a four yr old boy travel with a relative or complete stranger?

What was the situation.? Don't know, do we.?

What can/ would anyone of us do in such circumstances?


One fact is clear. The son had to leave the house and live elsewhere.

The best I can come up with, without detailed analysis, is that provision should have been available within the guidelines/rules for written permission to be available from , say, a chief of Police for travel, in circumstances where all other avenues are exhausted. They would be rare circumstances ( e.g where family or friends couldn't help out) but the rules should have anticipated that some such worst case scenario situations would arise.
But at least when such applications to be an exception to the rule would have been made, it would have been upfront and seen to be proper.

As always, we know just a bit of the situation . In this case, some think the boy was going to live with the grandparents! Some think with the sister elsewhere than with the grandparents. Some think with the sister in the same place as the grandparents, but isolated from them. Some think there was no non -contact with relatives considerations at all- just, I want to go to Durham etc.

It has inevitably become political, to the extent that there is a danger that the winner from this could be Covid . People deciding to ignore SD etc because
the Government think the rules don't apply to them , etc etc.

The PM ( and Cummings) has to consider now this effect above all others, and so Cummings should resign, or be made to do so.
 
The problem is. At that time. The advice given was if you start showing symptoms, you isolate with your family.
I took that to mean, if one of you get it, the likelihood is both myself and my partner will get it.
We were also told that the majority of people will only experience mild symptoms. Unpleasant all the same for a week or two but ultimately we will get through it and wont need urgent medical treatment.
This treatment would be available if necessary and that is why we are all staying at home to protect the NHS.

Neither myself nor Cummings are in a vulnerable category. As far as I am aware his child isn't either.

From my view, he either panicked and didnt believe his own advice, or thought he was above the rules of the land.

Either way. He should have been sacked.

On a side note, do people normally turn up for meetings at number 10 looking like that? It seems to be he has little respect for his position or the nation.
 
I am not defending Cummings because I think , with his connections and resources he could have handled his problem differently.

The problem was potentially serious.
His wife had symptoms: he knew he would get them.
He assumed rightly that they would both get Covid, and they had a four yr old son to look after.
Chances were they would soon be so affected that they could not look after him.
They might even finish up in hospital.

(As an aside, this scenario could be the one for thousands of young couples.)

So, how to best care for the boy.? He needs to go to someone to look after him.
before they maybe become incapacitated.

Best I can make out, Cummings has a sister up North. His parents are there too.

Can she drive down to pick up the boy?
If not able to drive, is there someone who can drive her?
If not, can she transport the boy at all?

If not, who can?
What about her relatives? Can they help re transport.?

Being in the job he has, no doubt there are aides who can do so, but will a four yr old boy travel with a relative or complete stranger?

What was the situation.? Don't know, do we.?

What can/ would anyone of us do in such circumstances?


One fact is clear. The son had to leave the house and live elsewhere.

The best I can come up with, without detailed analysis, is that provision should have been available within the guidelines/rules for written permission to be available from , say, a chief of Police for travel, in circumstances where all other avenues are exhausted. They would be rare circumstances ( e.g where family or friends couldn't help out) but the rules should have anticipated that some such worst case scenario situations would arise.
But at least when such applications to be an exception to the rule would have been made, it would have been upfront and seen to be proper.

As always, we know just a bit of the situation . In this case, some think the boy was going to live with the grandparents! Some think with the sister elsewhere than with the grandparents. Some think with the sister in the same place as the grandparents, but isolated from them. Some think there was no non -contact with relatives considerations at all- just, I want to go to Durham etc.

It has inevitably become political, to the extent that there is a danger that the winner from this could be Covid . People deciding to ignore SD etc because
the Government think the rules don't apply to them , etc etc.

The PM ( and Cummings) has to consider now this effect above all others, and so Cummings should resign, or be made to do so.
Re the bit in bold, not true, he stayed with his parents in Durham and sister delivered food to their door.

His mother even wrote about her and the kid looking after daddy (sticky ribena, dressing up as a doctor)
 
Re the bit in bold, not true, he stayed with his parents in Durham and sister delivered food to their door.

His mother even wrote about her and the kid looking after daddy (sticky ribena, dressing up as a doctor)

Not sure you understood what I was saying there. Which was
Cummings and wife in London home with son, according to rules, shouldn't move from there for some days, nor receive visitors. At the time he made his decision he considered the possibility that both he and wife could become incapacitated, I.e the virus affect them seriously.
There could be a possibility that the child became alone in the flat with two very ill parents.
Rather than wait to see if that happened, most parents would try to make arrangements for the child to be elsewhere, yes?
 
The thing is, Cummings should have known this would come out. He should have premepted this by being open. On the contrary , Mary Wakefields article hides the fact that they ever left london. As it is, he just looks like he doesn't give a stuff
 
Not sure if this helps, I believe the bit in bold is the bit he’s using, whether that allowed someone to drive a certain distance for that is unclear.

March 23: Prime Minister Boris Johnson orders a strict UK lockdown urging the British public to ‘Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives’.

March 24: England’s deputy chief medical officer, Dr Jenny Harris, is asked what her advice would be if parents with children become sick:

“Clearly if you have adults who are unable to look after a small child, that is an exceptional circumstance.

“...if the individuals do not have access to care support, formal care support or access to family, they will be able to work through their local authority hubs.”

March 27: Mr Johnson and Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, announce that they have tested positive for the coronavirus. Mr Cummings is seen leaving No 10 Downing Street shortly after the announcement.

March 28/29: Downing St confirms that Mr Cummings had started displaying coronavirus symptoms “over the weekend” of March 28-29.

March 30: Downing St confirms that Mr Cummings and his wife Mary Wakefield are self-isolating in their London home after developing symptoms of the virus. Although the exact date is unclear, it has emerged that around this time Mr Cummings and Ms Wakefield, together with their young son, drove to an address in Durham, 260 miles from London.
One might suggest that Cummings did not have access to family in Durham as he would have to break rules to have that access.
 
Last edited:
Top