Cummings is taking questions later today

[pontypridd]

How on earth is that going to go?

Who on earth does he think he is, making a statement and taking questions. So, so inappropriate for someone in his position.

I really can’t see how whatever he comes out with will help the situation in any way. His position is untenable, and the longer the prime minister and cabinet defend him, the more untenable their positions become as well. No one is irreplaceable.

He'll lambast the media, say they made his son and his wife and his mother cry. That we should all be ashamed of ourselves, he's told us what happened and that should be the end of it.

That all this hounding of him and his family is beyond the pale and over the line and bad form and a poor show and won't we just think of the country.

Then he'll take questions and the answer to each one will be "I've been very clear".

And that's it.

Poor guy, putting his children's happiness and welfare before his career.
Ensuring that they were with someone they knew, trusted/felt safe with when his health was deteriorating.
Not putting any unnecessary pressure onto local services and isolating separately from his children and parents.
Then some adults shove cameras and microphones into his face, ignore the two metre rule and put themselves and his wife at worsening risk.

The Scottish CMO used the daily briefing for her own mea culpa and attempt to hang on.

It failed.

This should be interesting.

It will be interesting to see if he can wriggle out of this.
He doesn't have to, thanks to all the Tory-voting automata in this country.

I really hope that when the journalists ask question that they don’t ask two or three in a row. Keep it simple. Ask ONE question and don’t word it in such a way that lets them waffle.

A journalist asked Boris quite a good question yesterday then followed it up in the same breath with three more which allowed him to wriggle out of answering.

Poor guy, putting his children's happiness and welfare before his career.

You mean the child who was forced to sit in a confined space with a Covid positive parent for 260 miles?

Savingshoes you sound like the village idiots on FB this morning. Can you really not see that what DC did was wrong?

Sadly I can't see this being a resignation speech, what questions would any need to ask about that?

Let's hope it's as sucessful as Cherie Blair's was in getting the public onside

lauriemarlow,

Thanks for reminding me! I would like to amend the foot shoot to include Airmiles. So a Ratner/Fox/Airmiles foot shoot.

Having read all the ‘his child is autistic’ crap on Twitter - I reckon Cummings is going to use that to make us all feel sorry for him.

Only he could explain this of course. That’s why he’s taking questions.

Is anyone actually expecting to hear the truth from him?

Poor guy, putting his children's happiness and welfare before his career.
Bollocks - he doesn't expect his career to end until Boris' does.
He is an arrogant twat who could have looked after his kid a million better, easier and less obviously offensive ways. But he chose this because he doesn't consider himself in the slightest bit accountable to anyone and he thinks he can do what the fuck he likes. Actually, he's right isn't he? Nothing is too low for him and his pals.

I'm not even going to stay in on this lovely sunny day. Who cares what this man says now? I know now that those in power are prepared to tell bald faced lies on TV to us, the electorate, and maintain black is white, as if we didn't all know the guidance we were following.

It doesn't matter what they do, what he says, what further explanations are offered, it's the direct lying I can't take and I've seen so much of it the past few days.

I have just been told it's 3pm, is it BBC1?

How is an unelected political advisor getting this big a platform? It simply beggars belief. There is no way he will be resigning and the size of the Tory majority means they are safe for a very long time (a fact I’m sure he is well aware of).

@FancyARoot

😂😂 classic statement 👌

@kimlo You've called it. I'd put money on that being his reasoning.

Can't believe a spad is hosting a press conference this is unprecedented and I think very much against the civil service code that spads are supposed to follow.

I presume he is planning to stroll up wearing imperial purple and shout "Fuck off plebs, my son is autistic" and then take some questions from Laura Kuennsberg about just how awesome a dad he is.

Poor guy, putting his children's happiness and welfare before his career.

Even if he did travel for childcare (which I don't think stacks up - he himself claimed to only receive food on the doorstep), the issue is that whatever his reason for travel, in doing so broke the rules that he helped formulate and promote. Rules to quarantine for two weeks in main residence if a member of household had symptoms. Rule not to travel to second home or another home for any reason. Rule to stay socially distanced from symptomatic members of own household within the home so as to avoid contracting a large viral load.

Rules the rest of us all followed - often to the detriment of our children or other vulnerable members of our family, often whist experiencing fear, stress, illness or bereavement - for the greater good of not passing on the infection within our society.

Poor guy, putting his children's happiness and welfare before his career.

You mean, putting them before public safety.

Ensuring that they were with someone they knew, trusted/felt safe with when his health was deteriorating.

Except he didn't, according to his wife. And the guidance said that travelling for that reason was a total no-no.

Not putting any unnecessary pressure onto local services and isolating separately from his children and parents.

But he didn't isolate separately from his child: his wife wrote about his child bringing him ribena. Indeed, he shut his child up in a box with his infectious mother for several hours. If he had to put avoid pressure on local services, why was it OK to put that pressure onto Durham's local services instead? After all, London's services were good enough for his boss.

Must do better, @Savingshoes.

I doubt that cummings will care what we think one way or the other and whatever he says, I suspect that the press conference (if that is actually what it is) will be so tightly managed that no pertinent questions will be allowed.

kimlo page 2 has it

He’ll try and appear emotional, and guilt trip everyone that his kid has additional needs. Buddy loads of us know people trying to get through your lockdown with AN and families supporting AN kids. Not a valid excuse... for multiple trips, to beauty spots, with family in London, when his sister could’ve come down to London.... seriously if he says additional needs then they’ve lost the plot

But he wasn't thinking about his child when they travelled. They wanted to attend family gatherings. Neither he or his wife took coronavirus tests.

Cummings appears to be confused - he thinks people give a fuck about him.

No Dominic no, you're just an advisor. We'd rather hear what your puppet the PM has to say. We'd rather he came clean and told us straight why the rules don't apply every time it suits him.