To think if Boris won't sack Dominic Cummings then Boris should go?

[madroid]

Boris Johnson will have known Dominic Cummings broke all the rules of lockdown and self-isolation by taking his covid-19 wife to County Durham 260 miles away to his elderly parents' home.

Boris will have known that Dominic Cummings then went back again two weeks later.

Boris has told the rest of the cabinet to defend Dominic Cummings now he's been found out.

AIBU to think Boris should go too?

@KuckFnows the only thing preventing you from engaging in an open debate on this thread is you. If you respond with "give it a fucking rest" then no, you aren't going to be able to have a discussion. If open debate is what you want, you need to listen to the points put across, consider them, and then respond with counterpoints if you disagree. "Give it a fucking rest" when your party is (legitimately) criticised doesn't quite cut it in an intelligent discussion I'm afraid and it certainly does nothing to dispel the feeling that most conservative supporters have simply subscribed to the cult of personality that surrounds Boris Johnson.

The OP has raised a very good point. The Prime Minister's chief adviser has been found to have broken the government's own lockdown rules by travelling 250+ miles with coronavirus symptoms, apparently to seek childcare from his elderly parents (this is despite the rest of the nation being told in no uncertain terms NOT to seek childcare from grandparents, and despite Cummings having family closeby in London). So this is 2 adults, with symptoms, travelling a very significant distance away from home and seeking childcare from elderly relatives. The guidelines have been broken on several counts and he has endangered people, clearly. He should lose his job. If Boris Johnson's personal affiliation with Cummings makes it impossible for him to hold Cummings to account, then yes he should resign. This would have been a career-ending gaffe just a few short years ago, for both of them. What has happened to make the public willing to swallow so much bullshit from these people?

If you don't think that DC broke the rules, why? If you think he broke them but should not be held to account, why? If you think Boris Johnson should not be responsible for disciplining his staff, why? If you want to debate then you need to address the issues, not just swear at people like a 12 year old.

Also, if you need a reminder as to why emotions are running high on this issue, the following is from a recent Guardian article:

"On 31 March, Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, 13, from Brixton, south London, died in the early hours of the morning at King’s College Hospital after testing positive for coronavirus. According to a family friend, his mother and siblings could not be at his bedside and, after some of his siblings also developed symptoms, his immediate family had to miss his funeral as they were required to self-isolate."

The scale of people's suffering in abiding by these guidelines has been immense. Immense. For Johnson and Cummings to spit in the face of these families by holding themselves above the law is unforgivable.

"Yes being advised yes delegating, but being a figurehead and retaining accountability."

I agree with that. He promoted himself as an inspirational, Churchillian figure who would unite the nation. He can't achieve that whilst refusing to let the public have more than the odd glimpse of him.In any case, delegating almost all his responsibilities wouldn't be so bad if he'd actually assembled a talented team, but he's successfully surrounded himself with people whose only selling point is loyalty to him and his particular version of Brexit.

Yes. And for every child who died alone (which absolutely doesn't bear thinking about) there will have been scores of elderly people.

We had it early on. My toddler (a real toddler, rather than a 4 yr old) sat in front of Peppa pig. One day he mainly eat cereal straight from the packet, and bananas, when the rest of us (teenager siblings and parents) all felt too ill to cook. It wasn't giving him "the best care" which Grant Shapps said this morning people can move away from their main residence to do, even with symptoms. More fool us, eh? DH now saying that if we're told to quarantine again we should move to PIL's beautiful holiday let, so that homemade food can be delivered to the doorstep.

I am so fucking angry about this. I have been giving the government the benefit of the doubt for months, but seeing a string of ministers gaslighting the public like this and demeaning the sacrifices we have all made by claiming that DC is "only doing what a good parent would do" or that "anyone needs their family in difficult times" has tipped me over the edge into full blown rage.

I haven't seen my terminally ill dad for months because of lockdown. I've missed out on time with him I'll never get back. My children have missed out on seeing him when he still has quality of life to make memories with. I've not been able to give my mum any help because they live 50 miles away. I've been up at 5 and staying up till 1.30am working most nights because like everyone else I have no childcare and I'm trying to do a fulltime job while homeschooling a 5 year old and caring for a toddler who can't be unsupervised for 5 minutes. I've been sucking it all up and trying not to complain because we are all having to make sacrifices now and many people are having it even worse.

And then the fucking government turns around and says "oh no, the rules are optional really, it's up to you, and if it's too hard to obey them then that's totally fine and if you say anything bad about DC you're just being political." I feel they are basically saying "all of you who are struggling and desperate and trying your best - you're mugs, and if you obeyed the rules it just shows you don't really love your family that much."

Of course they don't really think people like us should see their families. Because we aren't politically important like DC. Our suffering isn't even important enough to have respect shown to it.

The whole sorry lot of them should resign.

Sorry rainy Lake :(

Utter tosh

Of course not

Boris was voted in with an 80 seat majority

Labour suffered worst election defeat since the 1930s. They are unelectable.

The alternative would be so much worse and gives me chills just thinking about it.

@Limeandsodit - you a psychic?

I understand now the expression’My blood was boiling with rage’.

That poor 13 year old boy and his family.

@Sadie789 If you believe those rumours about Nicola Sturgeon you're as gullible as all the other eejits on Twitter. They're completely laughable!

www.google.com/amp/s/www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/5290002/nicola-sturgeon-snp-private-life-rumours-gossip-not-true/amp/

rainylake

It's really stupid politics not to fire him because if they ever need compliance from the public again they won't get it. People will remember this. Our family will remember not being at a beloved funeral as will scores of others. It honestly makes me sick.

Rainylake, your MP needs to see that x

Utter tosh

Of course not

Boris was voted in with an 80 seat majority

Labour suffered worst election defeat since the 1930s. They are unelectable.

The alternative would be so much worse and gives me chills just thinking about it.

This is all we seem to get from Tory supporters. The election result (along with Brexit and all the other stuff the right wingers like to reference at the moment) is irrelevant to this discussion. Labour are not running the show. The Conservative party is in charge. We are discussing their handling of the crisis, and on this thread we are specifically discussing their handling of Dominic Cummings breaking the law. Why can't you discuss and analyse the government on their own merits? Why do you need to draw pointless comparisons based on hypothetical situations that you think would have happened if labour had won the election? Why can't you discuss what is actually happening and simply hold the government to account based on their actions?

It's the same as when people on Facebook say "well you couldn't do a better job". So as long as our Prime Minister is doing better than Terry from Norwich it's all fine and we absolutely shouldn't have any negative opinions about any of it 🙄

It will be interesting to see how this pans out as we are only getting a glimpse into their double standards.
Maybe the new normal will include us being taken for fools and having to suck it up.
Can’t believe anyone was stupid enough to think old Johnson & co were anything else but morally bankrupt. I’m not shocked by this, just surprised it got out.

The people that make up the government lack a critical thing, emotional intelligence. Probably most of them have never been responsible for childcare over and above saying night night a few times a week. Always had help on tap. It is obvious from the DS statement that their press office have no grasp of the gravity and repercussions of this. What DC did is huge to millions of parents who have muddled through. Massive. And they think they can get away with it. No wonder the Stay At Home message was changed a few weeks ago.

Much as I dislike Johnson the last thing this country needs is another pm right now. Hopefully he'll be kicked out at the next election but that's a whole other thread.

Right now Cummings needs to kicked into the arse end of nowhere and left there.

@IWantT0BreakFree - excellent post which sums up my feelings completely. I really really hope this is not allowed to be washed over and the press keep at it - even the Daily Mail!!

@rainylake - that sounds really tough. Your situation really hammers home how difficult lockdown is for some. It really truly shows utter contempt for the British public if DC is not fired.

Sunday times headline states BJ “refuses to throw top aide to the dogs” as if DC is innocent and BJ is some honourable chap stepping up to defend him. Important narrative here - Tory party clearly trying to make this out to be about party politics rather than a cock up of the highest order.

And I know it’s wrong and completely childish, but when I look at DC’s smug face I just want to vomit punch it

What reply do you get if you email [email protected] or [email protected]

Yes, @rainylake, please send that to your MP 💐

Sunday times headline states BJ “refuses to throw top aide to the dogs” as if DC is innocent and BJ is some honourable chap stepping up to defend him.

Also tells us what they think we are - us who followed their rules, despite all the hardship, and are now upset at the blatantly different rules for the political elite.

@KuckFnows

It's 99 percent labour voting and permanently picking holes/ political point scoring and making absolutely vile and appalling and unnecessary comments about members of the Conservative party.

I was a member of the Conservative Party until Brexit, and would still return to the fold if it weren't for Brexit. Leaving Brexit aside, though, I am as far from being a lefty, though, as you could possibly imagine (and am quite hoping the Nicola Sturgeon rumours are true, as I would dearly love her to be on her bike as well).

I still think, though, that DC should be given the old heave-ho for not sticking to the very stupid rules that he helped to make.

What are the NS rumours? That she broke lock down?

I had wondered about the hair Me too

As someone said last night, Johnson sacking Cummings would be like Emu sacking Rod Hull!

Johnson is caught - he is too stupid and lazy to run the country, his cabinet were chosen for their ability to do as they're told, he NEEDS Cummings but Cummings has finally gone too far (250 miles too far..)