to think Dominic Cummings has to go?

[RoosterPie]

Dominic Cummings apparently travelled to his parents house while meant to be self isolating due to covid symptoms.

Given what happened with Neil Ferguson and Catherine Calderwood, AIBU to think his position ought to be untenable?

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/2020/may/22/dominic-cummings-durham-trip-coronavirus-lockdown

If the government can’t persuade those who are infected to stay at home we have no hope of controlling the virus. And (imo) they have no chance of doing that while a senior adviser is seen to get away with breaking the self-isolation rules.

This is a really important point.

If they can't be clear about what isolation means, tracking and tracing is pointless.

I thought it was just DC and his child, but his wife (with confirmed CV19) was with them. And apparently, according to Downing Street, no police ever spoke to DC or his family.

This is getting curiouser and stinkier by the minute.

And (imo) they have no chance of doing that while a senior adviser is seen to get away with breaking the self-isolation rules

So everyone is going to rush out and do what they want because they perceive that's what DC did? They'd deliberately risk their health because they think a government advisor did? That doesn't really give the great British public much credit for intelligence does it. Do you think they are petulant children then? At the end of the day we manage our own risks to keep ourselves safe.

Maybe. I don't know his circumstances. Maybe he could have taken the child. Maybe he wasn't in a position to. We don't actually know do we. I would assume if there was a better option he would have taken it. But none of us know whether there was a better option or not.

With the wealth and/or contacts that Cummings has his sister or niece could have been brought to collect his child. There was no need for him and his wife to travel

The problem I think is that none of us understood we were allowed to do this. My sister in law aid on her own and single parent and if she has become ill I didn't realise I could have my niece / nephew and she or I could travel to each other
This may if all been better if he explained straight after what he had done and that these exceptional circumstances were allowed as I'm sure others may of felt peice of mind knowing they could rely on a relative for childcare if necessary

And apparently, according to Downing Street, no police ever spoke to DC or his family.

Either the police are lying, or thats another Cumming special when it comes to wording. The police said they spoke to the house owner.

@Intothesun

No, I’m afraid I don’t credit the “great British public” with much intelligence at all.

@strugglingwithdeciding that’s because we weren’t allowed to do this.

All that fine print that we should have read. . . except it wasn't printed. Silly, silly, us.

What a very gaslighting government this is.

The advice, which became law on March 26, stated: “You should not be visiting family members who do not live in your home. The only exception is if they need help, such as having shopping or medication dropped off.”

Exactly. They can visit you. Why couldn't his sister and/or niece have done that and isolated with them for 14 days. Ordered shopping online for them all and helped out with childcare.

You know? The same thing we were all expected to do. And told basically if we didn't we had blood on our hands as we needed to protect the nhs and save lives.

I know people who work in the civil service alongside the government, he is a hated man by many

When it comes to lying, you have to remember the previous lie or else you will get caught out

I wonder who's on Marr and Rigby tomorrow?

What a very gaslighting government this is

Perfect description. If lots more people die it's going to be all our fault too because we didn't follow the "rules". The optional rules. I'm infuriated.

At the end of the day we manage our own risks to keep ourselves safe.

The whole point of lockdown / isolating with symptoms is that we are being asked to make sacrifices in order to keep OTHERS safe. If it were only about keeping ourselves safe, far fewer people would ever have complied with lockdown.

Do you think they are petulant children then?

Insisting that government ministers and advisers stick to their own rules, and refusing to comply with rules which only exist for the plebs isn’t petulant.

If my partner were very sick, we had a young child, and I myself were starting to feel sick, I would go to family to help look after our kid if we found that we could not.

The problem is that many people have been asked to do things that are far far more difficult that looking after a child while ill, and now the government is saying that that all the sacrifices were unnecessary - that it was always up to individuals to interpret the rules.

This is now bigger than Dominic Cummings. He could have apologised and accepted that that he fucked up because he was scared. Many people would have been sympathetic. The thing that is unforgivable is to change the rules retrospectively.

Cummins is untouchable. He isn't going anywhere and this will all die down.

Sadly it's not like ten years ago where there were consequences especially with no effective opposition. Hell the public at large probably don't care

I'm infuriated.

I'll see your infuriated, and raise you my incandescent. Because this is ridiculously fucking incendiary.

Oceanorchid sums it up. He didn't just visit family, he and his wife travelled hundreds of miles knowing they had Coronavirus. They should have stayed at home. Which if you read the article she wrote for the Spectator is what you would have believed they did. They are liars and hypocrites.

Meanwhile people have made huge sacrifices. Lost loved ones. Lost livelihoods (I'm one of those).

I've never in my life said that I hate anyone. I'm coming very close with Cummings and his ilk. They've destroyed lives but as he said today 'who cares'.

I’m not a Tory, I’m hoping Keir starmer can make labour electable again and I’d defend anyone making a reasonable exception to covid rules, as this looks to be.

Guidance can never fully cover exceptions.

Whoever let the 13 year old die on their own should face an inquiry, I’d petition for that. Utterly inhumane.

Nicola Sturgeon actually should really get behind this. She should point out how she was fired to sack a advisor who travelled to an empty property. Yet as Cummings can travel with covid 250 miles.

Exactly. They can visit you. Why couldn't his sister and/or niece have done that and isolated with them for 14 days. Ordered shopping online for them all and helped out with childcare.

At the very worst the sister or niece should have collected the child and taken them to Durham to the second house near the grandparents. Even that is very iffy in case the kid is just not showing symptoms, but it's vastly better than two already ill people spreading around

With the wealth they have it's not beyond them to do that, even if they suddenly come out with "none of them have a car"

And with the contacts Cummings has there's not a chance he'd be struggling to get a supermarket delivery slot for shopping for him and his wife.

There was no need for him to flout the rules. Many others have been in the same or worse positions and not travelled hundreds of miles while infections. He had support available in London, including the child's aunt
on the mother' side. No post hoc "exceptions" are going to cover it. Defending him just completely undermines the government' authority on this. If he is still in post on Tuesday I think we'll see a lot of people ignoring the lockdown rules. Maybe that is the plan.

One rule for us, one rule for them. Utterly disgraceful.

Nicola Sturgeon actually should really get behind this. She should point out how she was fired to sack a advisor who travelled to an empty property. Yet as Cummings can travel with covid 250 miles.

I think she'd be mad to comment on this. If she does that the story will stop being about Cummings and will become about her trying to tell England what to do/getting above her station/politicising the virus

Also to add. This wasn't just a breach of the rules it was cowardice. Cummings ran away as soon as the infection was hitting the cabinet. The PM senior aid downed tools and fled to the other end of the country during a major national crisis.

I normally listen to my husband ranting about things like this and I'm not bothered.

Today he's listening to me doing the ranting. To drive halfway across the country is completely reprehensible. The rest of us have been staying at home and not being able to say goodbye to dying relatives, or looking after children while poorly, because that is what we were told to do.

One rule for the many and another for the elite. And the cabinet are defending him. It's just breathtaking. Dominic Raab tweeted that those criticizing Cummings should look in the mirror. I can very happily look in any mirror because I followed all the rules, unlike Cummings.