To not understand the outrage at Dominic Cummings?

[Wow123]

Please don’t flame me for this. I’m not posting this to be controversial. I am someone who always tries to see the good in people which has been to my detriment at time’s in the past so I’m very well aware that maybe I’m missing something here and being too kind when he possibly doesn’t deserve it.

My understanding is that Dominic Cummings is saying that he only returned to Durham on one occasion which was because he had fears about potentially being unable to look after his child if him and his wife both ended up too unwell with Covid. I can understand the logic in that.

I appreciate the government advice at that stage was to stay home but if he genuinely didn’t have anyone to help with his son, then I can understand his fears and that he was trying to put his child first as any parent would.

My understanding is that a matter of days after, the government did clarify that travelling in the event of needing support with children if you had caught covid was an exceptional circumstance and that travel in that instance was acceptable.

I personally live hundreds of miles from family and don’t have anyone I could ask for help in the local area was I to become unwell with Covid so this does resonate with me.

I understand that there were sightings of Dominic Cummings on other dates in Durham which indicate that he travelled back up there. If this is true, I definitely agree that he needs to be sacked, but at this stage, there is no proof of this.

Am I missing something here?

Seeing the reporters acting like a baying mob outside Cummings house yesterday and the spite and sheer nastiness of many of the comments here is very disturbing.

Except the woman ‘beying’ wasn’t a reporter. She was a woman who had made sacrifices in lockdown and was angry our elite didn’t.

I expect if he does apologise, it will be of the "I'm sorry you are upset by my behaviour." non - apology.

Johnson has form for lying so why did we expect him to do anything other than try to lie his way out of this crisis?

My family and I have done our bit.
Dc didn't follow the rules.
He made the rules. The irony is lost on some people it seems.

As normal, James O'Brien made a good observation on LBC earlier.

BJs defence is that DC "followed the instincts of any father" in deciding to take the journey to Durham from London to find suitable childcare.

So that must mean that the millions of parents who decided to stick rigidly to the guidelines and laws put in place by the government (via DC!) for the safety of UK citizens and to "protect the NHS" must have been crap parents otherwise they too would have followed their instincts, instead of sticking to the guidance. What an insult!

@SorrelBlackbeak
👍🏻 no offence intended.

'new' . Peak MN .

You can pooh-pooh it all you like, there are clearly accounts posting on this thread which are Tory bots.

The being a good dad bit is insulting.
If Boris's top advisor had been a woman would they go with this line?
Of course not

After all, we all followed the rules to the letter didn't we?

Yes, I and my family did, actually.

I don’t think he needs to resign - but he and BJ need to at least accept that what was done here was ridiculous and irresponsible, not the exact opposite. I’m glad this isn’t being let go so easily. It could have been, had Cummings simply admitted he’d been stupid and apologised. But he’s done the exact opposite and expects everyone just to let it go at his say so. Same with BJ - he very much tried to simply shut this down yesterday by basically saying Cummings did nothing wrong and that’s that, end of discussion because we say so... That’s not the type of country we live in, where you can simply shut a discussion down like that, and the blatant attempt at doing so is very worrying and we should not stand for it. Letting this go because that’s what they demand, given the lack of understanding from the PM and lack of remorse from Cummings sets a dangerous precedent - it’s not being petty.

I just want him to explain why, with no symptoms himself at that point and a wife who seems to have only suffered it mildly, he was so concerned about the tiny possibility of them both being rendered incapable of looking after their child he thought it was worth breaking the strictest quarantine instructions we’ve ever been given? It makes no sense.

so whether it was his sister,mother or great aunt fanny he shouldn’t have done it.

Not to the letter, no. I shopped locally which meant I made more trips to the shop per week than was prudent. My neighbour has been furloughed and was barely at his house. Ditto a few others near to me. I also work with someone who continued to look after their grandkids, despite their DD and SIL in risky public facing jobs.

Was I happy about it? No. Should they have been hounded in the way DC is being hounded? No.

Hounding, shaming and baying for blood for a minor indiscretion says way more about a person than they probably realise.

Said this elsewhere but... he’ll say his kid has additional needs and say it was justified.

Nope... not the multiple trips you took, and I know two households with more kids with AN who followed the rules to a T.

But I’ve heard this is his “defence”

Hounding, shaming and baying for blood

Yet more highly emotive language simply for critiquing the fact the unelected leader of our country is a pathological liar.

Interesting that this language is being used now, here, against women who criticise Cummings, on a forum where posters are regularly told they are basically mass murderers for sitting on a park bench or going into a private field.

Isnt it a good job his parents don’t live somewhere like the damp Victorian shithole in Winson Green my mother was bought up in eh?.

Much better to lockdown rurally.

The being a good dad bit is insulting.
If Boris's top advisor had been a woman would they go with this line?
Of course not

Totally agreed.

It makes no sense

It’s because their story is bullshit. They knew they had 2 weeks at home and they thought they might as well spend it somewhere nice with family. They didn’t even consider that the rules applied to them which is why they are now drip feeding bits of information to try and create a convincing “exceptional circumstance” scenario.

My uncle died of C19 at the beginning of April and he didn’t even have a funeral. Not even his wife or children attended a service.

Ian King just tore strips off Spiked editor Brendan O’Neill

On Sky News

you were Dominic Cummings, or any other media hate figure, it would be impossible for you to use these networks because someone would have sold the story. Being rich does not buy round-the-clock childcare in a pandemic, or push you into the supermarket priority-delivery category

He lives in Islington. Practically every front door has famous people behind it including many political figures. The idea that he couldn't get help without driving to Durham is risible. Frankly there is no evidence that at any point they needed outside help.

If he is a media hate figure its a role he has cultivated for himself. David Cameron's SPAD was just as right wing authoritarian as Cummings but didn't actively go around showing contempt for everyone who wasn't of use to him.

I’ve been noticing the language used too - anyone would think there were misogynists in our midst.
Hysterical my arse.

Hounding, shaming and baying for blood for a minor indiscretion says way more about a person than they probably realise.

Ah, interesting use of propaganda and manipulation there. Well done that bot. I see very little hounding, shaming or baying going on. I do see people asking why it is a senior adviser to the PM isn't being held to account.

As for the 'minor indiscretion', do feel free to explain to Durham Constabulary how travelling hundreds of miles with corona virus symptoms during a global pandemic and lockdown is indeed a 'minor indiscretion' as opposed to a fairly major breach of the government's own guidelines.

'There are loads of posters on here admitting to breaking the rules and loads agreeing that it’s fine now but because a Tory does it, it’s bad.'

Yes it is 100% a Tory/labour brexit outrage thing dressed up as rule breaking fury. Look at Keith Starmer all cat's bum faced about it yet his ministers like Kinnock have done worse. Fair enough they don't set the rules however that is hardly the point.

Comming's has a 4yr old son, allegedly with special needs. He wanted to be near the extended family who his son was familiar with should he or his wife need hospital treatment, as we all know the virus is unpredictable. He took minimal risk.

It was misguided I agree, he should have known it would cause this reaction and derail the whole virus guidance. He didn't 'break the rules' though, when potentially too ill to care for a dc they needed family nearby to step in. The MSM scrum on his doorstep is disgusting. Have we learnt nothing from Caroline flack? The media and the hysterical baying mob (yes I'll join in with the 'emotive language') are appalling.

Cummings Derangement Syndrome

Love it.

Baaaa