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?

@Strangerthantruth, I'm really not sure that you can suggest that a long car journey with someone with Covid is exactly low risk.

That needs investigating. I'm sure mistakes must've been made. His funeral was heartbreaking what were the funeral directors doing wearing full haz mat gear? The risk was nil surely.

The point is that government advice would have been given by BJ’s CHIEF spad, Cummings. And yet it’s a different rule for him. Can you wonder why people are angry?

if they have an allegedly autistic son who needs specific care then I would expect they would seek the most appropriate place for him to be.

There's just no way the actions they took can be construed as the best way around the situation, for ANY four year old. I really think the additional needs, if there be any, are a last-minute manipulation tool here. Parents of children with ASD are rightly outraged by this appropriation. They planned ahead for the greater good. Why couldn't DC?

He sat in on sage meetings to you know, inform government. I doubt he was 'controlling government' but you illustrate exactly the real reason why people want his scal

Multiple members of SAGE have disagreed with you. Go do some homework on your hero and whilst at it, check what the rules were at the time. Government press releases and Boris's own podium speech reiterated the importance of infected people staying put.

MTH.

Glad to see that the consensus is that Cummings position is untenable.
Not surprised to see that Cummings is sending out minions to try and massage his public image by attacking anyone who dares criticise him.
He’s bringing the police into disrepute by lying about the fact that his father was advised and reminded about quarantine and lockdown travel restrictions when they found out about his journey to Durham and contradicting the Durham police statement. It will be harder for the police to manage restrictions with the govt lying about it and justifying travelling 200 miles WITH the virus. Doctors and Nurse are absolutely furious about it.
Having a child with special needs is no excuse, they can afford to hire a private nurse. It’s pretty disgusting to use a child as an excuse for putting other vulnerable people at risk.

Cummings clearly doesn’t understand the concept of not getting his own way all the time, duty, or sacrifice for the greater good.

How about getting off your high horse, HighHorse and answering the question you were asked? Is Dominic Cumming's child more important that other people's children?

I forget exactly how many times I have seen the advice which was "Stay Home", which for a lot of us, isn't quite how we speak so it became Stay at Home. I don't recall any "Travel 250 miles" slogans.

Yes, there is a plethora of contradictory advice, so much so, that the Police have had trouble sometimes knowing what law they were supposed to be enforcing.

What do those people who shout "bots" in every thread think a bot actually is?

I don't shout bot in every thread but I do use the term. It originates in an abbreviation of 'robot' and in terms of the internet meant an automated account. You used to see them a lot on Twitter and they were easy to spot because the language used was poor and quite distinctive.

Since then, the term 'bot' has developed to mean any controlled or suspicious account that's operated by someone who's being paid in some way to undermine legitimate discussion. I use freelance platforms for writers and some of the specs on offer are rather interesting. Clients will test you out and then pay you to operate social media accounts.

Whatever else Cummings is, he's clever. He's certainly clever enough to manipulate social media by paying people to support him. Sound paranoid? Meh, whatever, doesn't mean it's untrue.

There is nothing in the media about DC’s son being autistic. That was a tweet referring to an interview on LBC, and when people checked the LBC recording, there was no mention of his son having autism.

'Because Ismail’s family weren’t given a choice'

Again I would suggest that was horribly mismanaged rather than it being specific guidance.

@GetOff no, the hospital followed government advice, which was subsequently changed following a public backlash.

Strangerthantruth, I'm really not sure that you can suggest that a long car journey with someone with Covid is exactly low risk.

So do they spend their rest of their lives 2 metres away from a 4 year old they live with except for when in a car?

Honestly, I'm bored now.

Do you really think the only guidance has been stay at home? You dont think there's masses of documents with advice and specific guidance?

@GetOffYourHighHorse, do tell us which bit of the guidance says that it's appropriate not to stay home when a member of your family has coronavirus, even though there are alternatives available that mean you don't have to leave home.

If both parents have been exposed to the virus, if they have an allegedly autistic son who needs specific care then I would expect they would seek the most appropriate place for him to be.

Autistic children need to stay in familiar surroundings and with their familiar belongings and routines. It is vanishingly unlikely that it was impossible for Cummings to have arranged a guidance-compliant alternative.

There is nothing in the media about DC’s son being autistic. That was a tweet referring to an interview on LBC, and when people checked the LBC recording, there was no mention of his son having autism

I have no idea if this is just rumour or not, but I did wonder where all the posters who were saying they know this were getting their information from.

So do they spend their rest of their lives 2 metres away from a 4 year old they live with except for when in a car

Well - either the wife got ill first and should have self isolated.

Or he was ill, and then drove when ill. Which is not a good thing to do

It s about the lies.
By him
by his wife
If they had to rush to Durham for help and it was ok to do so why not say so ?
Why not mention the son s special needs in the story? Child seems quite capable...

From dm story....Despite the suggestion that the couple had gone to Durham for childcare, Ms Wakefield said Ceddy, had 'administered' Ribena to Mr Cummings with the 'grim insistence of a Broadmoor nurse'.

'This might be my only useful advice for other double-Covid parents or single mothers with pre-schoolers,' she wrote.

'Get out the doctor's kit and make it your child's job to take your temperature. Any game that involves lying down is a good game.'

On the end of their ordeal, Ms Wakefield said they had emerged from quarantine into the 'uncertainty of London lockdown'.

'After the uncertainty of the bug itself, we emerged from quarantine into the almost comical uncertainty of London lockdown. Everything and its opposite seems true. People are frightened and they’re calm; it’s spring and it’s not. Queueing’s a pain in the ass and the most fun you’ll have all day.

'do tell us which bit of the guidance says that it's appropriate not to stay home when a member of your family has coronavirus, even though there are alternatives available that mean you don't have to leave home'

It has been repeatedly documented in the last couple of days that the care of a child if both parents have the virus would be an exception to 'stay at home', obviously they should isolate which they did just somewhere his sister could offer support. Maybe he didn't want to ask his vile shouty neighbours to bring him a load of bread?

astroturfing
/ˈastrəʊtəːfɪŋ/
noun
the deceptive practice of presenting an orchestrated marketing or public relations campaign in the guise of unsolicited comments from members of the public.

This is what’s happening when accounts are made specifically to push a govt or individuals agenda online in order to try and massage or “nudge” public opinion.
Cummings is a great believer in it and you can see it happening online right now. Glad that MS members can see right through it.
They tend to parrot the same lines from the defence “script“.

“Maybe he didn't want to ask his vile shouty neighbours to bring him a load of bread?“

So High Horse you know Cummings neighbours? 👀👀👀👀

Ever more convoluted justifications with “inside” knowledge of the situation is a huge red flag.

50MintyMabel

Yes they do. Clearly this "childcare" issue is just a story he's concocted

I’m laughing at the suggestion that just because he had family close he must have had childcare.

You seriously think the Government's top advisor had no-one in London he could call on? Haha people like you must be the reason they came up with the childcare storyline in the first place!

It has been repeatedly documented in the last couple of days that the care of a child if both parents have the virus would be an exception to 'stay at home'

Is this a serious answer? It’s been repeated in the last couple of days to justify what D.C. did - that was not the case when he did it. It’s also so insulting to pretend that people just used poor judgement with their own children, unlike Dominic Cummings, when they followed the rules set out by this same government.

We all feared becoming too ill to care for our children.

It's a fucking pandemic. People worldwide have had this fear.

Boris even recognised this and said it will be hard, we'll have to make sacrifices but you MUST stay home.

He wrote a letter to us all at the same time Cummings and his covid went to Durham telling us so.

He didn't stay at home. He didn't make sacrifices. He broke lockdown and drove to Durham.

And even worse his partner wrote a piece in the spectator that at best was misleading and worst outright lies about their isolation.

the fact that 13yo Ismail Abdulwahab died alone and his parents weren’t allowed at the funeral is heartbreaking and touched the nation. Yet we’re supposed to grant DC exceptional circumstances.

And to add, when Ismail’s family were asked how they felt when the government changed guidance, they said they were ‘happy’. Which is incredibly kind hearted in their grief. What DC did must be a real kick in the teeth for them.