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Tory minister Douglas Ross has resigned in protest over the Dominic Cummings scandal, saying he could not “in good faith” tell constituents who have followed government advice in the face of heartbreak that “they were all wrong and one senior adviser to the government was right”.
Public opinion of Boris Johnson and the government appears to have significantly soured this weekend with Savanta ComRes finding the prime minister’s approval ratings had dropped 20 points, as his most senior aide refused to apologise for his trip to Durham and Barnard Castle, the latter of which was allegedly to test his eyesight during his recovery from coronavirus.
With growing numbers of Conservative MPs voicing their discomfort at Mr Cummings actions, senior Tory William Wragg said it had been “humiliating and degrading” for ministers to “put out agreed lines in defence of an adviser”, particularly at a time of national emergency.
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“I’ve been contacted by over 400 constituents who, with one or two exceptions, have been critical of Mr Cummings and his statement yesterday has done nothing to convince them otherwise,” the Scarborough and Whitby MP told the PA news agency.
“I think that the best way for the prime minister, who I’m a massive fan of, to show he’s in charge of the situation is to relieve himself of Mr Cummings’ services.”
A new analysis suggests poorer parts of England, many of them Covid-19 hotspots, have lost out on more than £100m of emergency cash, after ministers diverted it to richer – mostly Tory-run – areas, Rob Merrick reveals.
The government stripped deprivation out of its calculations, despite announcing plans for that switch had been shelved – and despite saying the money was to “fight the pandemic”.
As a result, Labour-run councils which lost big sums include Sunderland (£3m), Knowsley (£2.6m), Sheffield (£2m), Gateshead (£2m), South Tyneside (£2m) and Oldham (£1.1m).
All are among the 10 areas of England with the highest rates of coronavirus infections, according to official figures, and among the most deprived. Yet, when the cash was announced, local government minister Simon Clarke said it was to recognise that councils are “the unsung heroes of the fight against Covid-19” and faced huge extra costs as a result.
“It is now a matter of record that Mr Dominic Cummings broke multiple lockdown rules,” they write. “He is yet to express any apology or contrition for these actions. There cannot be one rule for those involved in formulating public health advice and another for the rest of us.
“This is an issue that transcends politics. It has united people of every party and political persuasion, who believe strongly that it is now your responsibility as prime minister to return clarity and trust in public health messaging.
“We are clear that this can now only be achieved by removing Dominic Cummings from his post without further delay.”
The podcast Tales of the British Isles has discovered that Brewer’s Britain and Ireland (2005 edition) suggests “Barney Castle” became used to describe a “pathetic excuse” after Sir George Bowes “refused, despite many opportunities, to leave his fortified position in Barnard Castle to engage in battle”.
Stephen Hammond has told his constituents in Wimbledon that Dominic Cummings’ actions may have undermined efforts to protect people from coronavirus, and he should have quit, PA reports.
“Whilst one might have some sympathy with his motives and his concern for his family, I am angry that so many have sacrificed so much for public safety and yet this man has decided his interpretation of ‘doing the right thing’ overrode the clear instruction of Stay at Home,” he said.
“It is clear to me that Mr Cummings has broken some of the guidelines which we all were instructed to follow.”
He said that “public adherence to the rules is achieved by consent in this country and that is made much harder if people feel it is one rule for them and another for senior government advisers”.
Following Dominic Cummings assertion that he drove to Barnard Castle to test his eyesight on his wife’s birthday, experts have discussed the evidence base for Covid-related eye problems.
A spokesperson for Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, said: “At present, there is very little evidence to suggest that Covid-19 can affect eyesight. Cases where Covid-19 is recorded alongside an impact on eyesight are rare, so we cannot establish a direct causal effect. We need more data to be collected on Covid-19 related eye conditions to see if there is an association.”
However Prof Robert MacLaren, Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Oxford, said: “Coronavirus can affect the eyes in several ways. It was reported in approximately one third of patients in Wuhan in a recent study.
The ocular manifestations in the Wuhan patients included conjunctivitis, conjunctival hyperemia (red eye), chemosis (eye swelling), epiphora (watery eye) and increased secretions (sticky eye).
“Any of the above symptoms may affect vision and affected patients would be advised to drive with caution or not at all if there was significant blurring of vision or double vision.”
Freelance journalist Lebby Eyres has this memory of the powerful aide from their time at university together.
““There were no rules, fear was unknown and sleep was out of the question.” This line from American author Hunter S Thompson was Dominic Cummings’s motto when we were at Exeter College, Oxford, together.
“With a group of friends who called themselves ‘The Wastrels’, Dom would go on late-night sorties around the city, drink whisky into the early morning and play endless games of chess. He had no interest in the rules or institutions of college life – or for behaving like a typical student. Unlike his future boss Boris Johnson, he didn’t join the Oxford Union or jump into a rowing crew or even prop up the college bar.
“Awkward yet arrogant, he wasn’t interested in exchanging small talk but enjoyed provoking a row, sharing views that were deliberately extreme and designed to enrage. A night in the pub with Dom was never relaxing. But he inspired loyalty in his fellow Wastrels, a pattern that’s been repeated throughout his career. Conventional, rule-abiding people are drawn to him: he empowers them to be daring and take risks.”
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The leader of the Scottish Conservative Party Jackson Carlaw has called on Boris Johnson’s senior advisor Dominic Cummings to resign, writes Adam Forrest.
The MSP said the scandal over the strategist’s trip to Durham during the lockdown is proving too much of a distraction, according to the BBC and STV.
A former top cop has said Dominic Cummings would likely have been sent home if he had been stopped on his way to Durham, while doctors have warned people against driving to test their eyesight, writes Chiara Giordano.
Former Greater Manchester Police chief constable Sir Peter Fahy said he believed the prime minister’s most senior adviser would have been turned back if police had pulled him over during the drive from London to his family in the North East.
Major sass here from Donald Tusk, who steered the response of the EU’s leaders to Brexit – which Cummings did so much to bring about.
Coronavirus has ravaged care homes across Europe and America, killing tens of thousands, but in Hong Kong, not a single resident in care has even contracted Covid-19, writes Laurel Chor.
Its apparent success offers vital lessons – ones that the city learned the hard way almost two decades ago.
Downing Street has said it is “deeply concerned” by events in Hong Kong and that the government had raised those fears with the Chinese ambassador to the UK.
Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam has insisted that national security legislation proposed by China’s legislature will not threaten the semi-autonomous territory’s civil rights.
But Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said: “We are deeply concerned about these proposals and we have raised these concerns with both the acting chief executive in Hong Kong and with the Chinese ambassador.
“We are fully committed to upholding Hong Kong’s autonomy and respecting the one country, two systems model.”
The UK ruled Hong Kong until 1997 when it was handed back to China in exchange for promises its autonomy would be respected.
But new laws being imposed by Beijing threaten basic freedoms, pro-democracy campaigners fear.
Here’s the latest from our Asia editor Adam Withnall:
Police are investigating a threatening email sent to a bishop who criticised the government’s handling of the Dominic Cummings lockdown fiasco.
North Yorkshire Police confirmed it was probing the message sent to the Bishop of Ripon. Rev Helen-Ann Hartley said she was told on Sunday to “stay out of politics or it will be the death of you”.
The bishop previously said in a Twitter post that the government lacked “integrity, trust and leadership” in response to Boris Johnson’s press conference defending Mr Cummings on Sunday.
She added she missed her father’s birthday during the lockdown as he recovered from radiotherapy.
The Dutch prime minister did not see his mother for two months until the night she died because of measures aimed at stopping the spread of Covid-19, writes Zoe Tidman.
Mark Rutte “complied with all the coronavirus restrictions measures”, his spokesperson told The Independent, adding that the PM “did not visit his mother for more than eight weeks”.
“However, the restriction measures leave room to say goodbye to a dying family member during the very last phase,” the prime minister’s spokesperson added.
“As Michael Gove said on your programme earlier, everyone will make up their own minds. I do think that he gave a reasonable explanation,” he said.
“To be honest I was a bit disappointed by what the prime minister said on Sunday, because I thought that people really needed a full explanation and answers to all of the questions that had been raised.
“But I think they got that explanation yesterday, I think Dominic Cummings answered questions for more than an hour, it was a pretty rigorous cross examination.”
Former chief whip and Tory leadership candidate Mark Harper has penned a letter in which he says there is “no credible justification” for Mr Cummings’ trip to Durham.
“Difficult times are ahead which will require the government to be able to deliver clear and credible public health messages. In the interests of us all, I hope this will still be possible,” he wrote.
Downing Street has said England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance did not take part in Monday’s press conference because the Boris Johnson believed the questions would revolve around Dominic Cummings.
“I think the view of the prime minister was that the questions yesterday were likely to be focused on the statement earlier in the day and would all be directed at him,” the PM’s official spokesperson said:
“And therefore that Patrick and Chris didn’t need to take part. I think you can expect to see them at press conferences in the coming days. They were in No 10 yesterday in order to give an update to the PM, which they do regularly.”
Asked if they refused to express support for Mr Cummings, he said: “Nothing to suggest that, no.”
There will be no civil service investigation into whether Mr Cummings broke the code of conduct for advisers, the prime minister’s spokesperson has said, because Mr Johnson is “satisfied with his explanation” for leaving London during lockdown.
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