Did Boris Johnson just call us all bad parents?!

[Hermagsjesty]

Having watched that briefing I am incandescent with rage, less at what Cummings did - I understand people might have needed to make difficult choices and compromises during lockdown - but at the excusing of it. Why not admit it was an error of judgement and apologise?

I have three children. When my husband and I both became ill with what we believed to be Coronavirus in mid-March, we took turns to watch the children whilst the other slept. I lay on the sofa, feeling the illest I have ever felt, while CBeebies played on loop. We relied on neighbours we barely knew to drop off essentials. We would have loved to lean on family but we didn’t because we believed to do so would endanger them and the wider community.

A succession of ministers - and now the Primeminister himself - have suggested that Mr. Cummings behaved as any loving parent would. But many loving parents did not behave as he did. We struggled and made sacrifices in what we believed was the National interest. Are they now suggesting we just don’t love our kids as much as Mr. Cummings loves his?

I'm really interested to find out their opinions on other personal issues...
do they agree that NO means NO. Or does it depend upon who you are and where you work??

eh*

"There's a suggestion on Twitter that the child has severe autism and can only be cared for by peope he trusts. Would/does that change the complexion of the whole story?"

There are loads of families of children with severe autism having an awful time at the moment but are expected to lump it. Would they get away with driving hundreds of miles to relatives to get support? - no they wouldn't.

PotholeParadise I just can't fathom anyone handing over money for such a pointless rag. It's not as if they've even got a sense of humour about the cobblers they put out. Must be dismal to work for.

You are all going to feel so stupid when the truth comes out . This Is a witch hunt

What truth would that be? I can't think of anything that would make me think that Cummings is an absolute wanker of the first degree.

FliesandPies I'm sure this isn't going to help the case for the Express, but my mother used to buy it solely for the horoscopes.

I used to enjoy reading Boy George's columns through my fingers in the Saturday edition. Never bought it with my own money though. Never looked at him the same way, either.

It's obvious they could have accessed food delivery and if necessary childcare in London. If they did require childcare outside London, that could have been handled somehow if and when the need arose. I find it hard to believe the best solution is to make a long journey to preempt that. The sooner they drop that farcical excuse the better.

There is a piece in the New Stateman which references the fact that during this time Cumming's maternal uncle was unwell and died. This may have influenced the decision to go to see family. They have been grieving as a family and I think people will have sympathy for that, but many many people have been dying and grieving in incredibly difficult circumstances during this lockdown, so that won't make them a case for special treatment. Quite the opposite really since many of the critics are people who have followed the guidance despite being in similar circumstances.

It's not clear to me that the sister and her family live near Durham, or if they had also travelled to be with the parents and actually normally live further south. That may become part of the story.

I think we have all got sympathy for families dealing with illness, caring responsibilities and bereavement. I think that if someone had come on here asking for advice in a similar situation people would still have advised against making the journey. Some might have been able to set aside their criticism, but in large part because the OP would not have been a public figure whose bending of the rules could have huge consequences for govt messaging and public trust.

If Dominic Cummings wants to be someone who can do something like this and have it go unremarked or receive mildly disapproving comments, he can simply choose not to be a public figure. He didn't choose that, and it isn't just a question of him being 'fair game' because he is in the public eye. He has a genuine responsibility in his position to think about the wider effect of his choices. Don't want to do so? Don't take on the role.

Pothole I love a bit of Boy George - was it very juicy?

Horoscopes! I was just thinking the other day about horoscopes and how they never get mentioned any more. They used to be so mainstream, alongside the weather forecast. There were even people who made a living out of it - remember Russell Grant?

Boy George used to write one week about his committed veganism/fruitarianism/macrobiotic diet and his born-again Buddhism and then the next week, follow it up with gushing about the seafood/grass-fed beef he'd had at a hip new restaurant. Then it would be back to claiming he ate nothing except steamed carrots and brown rice because of his committed Buddhism.

I used to wonder whether he was doing it to test if anyone read the column.

Still remember the shock I felt when it came out about his drug use - I truly believed in his higher-plane, cup-of-tea stuff..it was a rude and sad awakening

I always thought it was a load of bollocks, because real vegetarians and real reformed formerly-wild pop stars just don't go on about it that much.

Doubt you can get excited in your own head about eating steamed broccoli and saying no to the cocaine at the latest after-show party after the fourth month, never mind the fourth year.

But to be fair, I had the advantage of his columns to develop these conclusions. I did get quite obsessed with them.

"There's a suggestion on Twitter that the child has severe autism and can only be cared for by peope he trusts. Would/does that change the complexion of the whole story?"

No. Under those circumstances I would have thought staying in familiar surroundings would be even more important.

And as for deliberately exposing an autistic child to infection more than is absolutely necessary- no, cruel.

@Thinkingabout1t - not a chance I'd handover my 6yr old only child to a stranger, never, ever, ever. Where's your heart?

How is having a nanny in your home “handing over your child to a stranger”? Do you consider everyone who employs a nanny heartless?

Unfortunately,Johnson’s showing to support Cummings today just confirmed our fears that our PM, with a large majority, is less than impressive. He appears unable to operate without his unpopular advisor who has endangered the government policy regarding the lockdown. He ambled through his defence of the indefensible and appeared weak and desperate.

Who cares? Why are you letting some posh boy tell you what your values are and should be? Get a cup of tea and watch a soap, Jesus. nothing to see here.

That's right. Switch your brain off, stop paying attention and never hold your government to account.

@tabbymunz "he's just an advisor" hohoho

If you take even just a little time to find out exactly who DC is, you wouldn't say that. He's the defacto PM, he's the one deciding policy and running the country. He's the brains that Boris doesn't have. The power behind the throne. He has a loooong and very interesting history. He's not "just" anything which is why this is so massive. All the press and pundits know Boris relies hugely on DC and he has SO much power behind the scenes.

At this point, it doesn't matter who DC is.

Look at all the politicians who fell over themselves to defend his actions.

The journalists are shit stirrers. At the briefing yesterday, all they kept on about was fucking DC.

As a member of the public, I want to know what’s happening with the vaccine? Who will get the vaccine? what evidence are they using to say which children should go back to school? Is the virus weakening? And other more pressing questions.

I really don’t see how banging on about DC is helping, especially when I can see with my own eyes many people carrying on as normal with their fucking visitors, BBQs, gatherings, etc.

You won't get any of those answers from the press conference, it's become a joke I am sad to say.

Look at all the sightings of Lord Lucan!!

Unless he has Covid19 that's irrelevant.

No, he didn't.

I don’t mind Boris really. What you see is what you get- a big, boofy posh boy. I don’t think he’s in any position to talk about what a loving parent would do though. Just noticed I typed boozy when I meant boozy! Corrected it, but Freudian slip?😛

Aaagh. Boozy again! Curse autocorrect!