Dominic Cummings scandal
The events include at least one journey that Cummings, the then chief adviser of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and his family made from London to County Durham after the start of a national lockdown in March 2020 while they were experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.
Questions arose about whether the conduct of Cummings and his wife was lawful and appropriate within the framework of government advice and guidance, given that the public were ordered to stay at home, that all non-essential travel was forbidden during the lockdown, and that infected persons had been instructed to self-isolate.
The scandal led to criticism from Members of Parliament (MPs) within and outside the ruling Conservative Party, backlash in the media and from the public, and calls for Cummings to be sacked or to resign.
Polling suggested that support for the Conservative Party and confidence in the British government's pandemic response fell as a result of the scandal.
On 23 March 2020, Boris Johnson announced immediate wide-ranging restrictions on freedom of movement in the UK in response to the global pandemic of COVID-19.
[1] Neil Ferguson had resigned from the government's scientific advisory group on 5 May after it emerged that a woman had been visiting his house in contravention of lockdown rules.
The same day, Cummings received a phone call at work from his wife, Mary Wakefield, to say that she was feeling ill and had vomited.
[6] On 22 May, the Daily Mirror and The Guardian published articles about their joint investigation alleging that the police had spoken to Cummings about breaching the government's lockdown rules in relation to a trip he made to Durham.
[7] On 23 May police confirmed that allegation to be untrue, and that they had been asked for security advice by Cummings's father, which they gave in a phone call.
[9][10] Mary Wakefield, Cummings' wife and a journalist and commissioning editor with The Spectator, wrote an article for the publication on 25 April, in which she described her and her husband's experiences while in lockdown with COVID-19.
Alleged inconsistencies between Cummings' account and his wife's[13] led to two complaints from the public to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) over "potential factual inaccuracies" in the article.
[1] He described experiencing threats of violence which led him to move to an "isolated cottage" on his father's farm as he became concerned about his family's safety.
[22] On 23 May, Downing Street released a statement saying Cummings' journey was essential, and the transport secretary Grant Shapps used part of the televised COVID-19 update to support him.
[24] Ex-chairman of the European Research Group (ERG), Conservative MP Steve Baker, said: "The country can't afford this nonsense, this pantomime, Dominic should go and we should move on and deal with things that matter in people's lives.
[26] The day after he made it, Douglas Ross, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, resigned from the government, arguing that his interpretation of the guidelines was "not shared by the vast majority of people".
[27] The backbench MP Jeremy Hunt claimed that Cummings had breached the lockdown rules on three occasions, which were a return to work after spending time with his wife when she was ill, and visiting both Durham and Barnard Castle.
[29] A University College London study published in The Lancet found that confidence in the government had decreased from 4.5 out of 7 to 3.5, from the start of the lockdown to after the controversy.
[30][31] A study from the Office for National Statistics showed a decline in the proportion of the public who believed unity within the country would ensue after the pandemic.
[34] A number of Bishops of the Church of England were critical of the way Johnson and Cummings responded to the issue, some of whom later received hate mail.
[38] Lord Sedwill, who served as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service to Prime Ministers Theresa May and Boris Johnson, said that he believed that Cummings' lockdown trip "undermined" the government's COVID-19 messages.
[45] They also said that a minor breach relating to lockdown rules might have occurred at Barnard Castle, but because there was no apparent breach of the social distancing rules, no action would be taken at that point, stating: "Had a Durham Constabulary police officer stopped Mr Cummings driving to or from Barnard Castle, the officer would have spoken to him, and, having established the facts, likely advised Mr Cummings to return to the address in Durham, providing advice on the dangers of travelling during the pandemic crisis.
