If you were annoyed at Dominic Cummings before

[NoMoreReluctantCustodians]

How has his performance in the rose garden affected your opinion?

YANBU it's made things worse
YABU its cleared things up for me

Didn’t completely clear it up but stopped the high sense of frustration.

He was different to what I expected which worked in favour to him.

Well Cummings said you should not believe everything you read in papers or see on the TV. Fine! I don't believe you or Boris so there! 😷🤪

Seriously he played everyone. Oh look at these nasty journalists trying to politicise my reasonable response in wanting to protect my son. I will quote the line used for domestic abuse victims about exceptional circumstances cos none of you thickos out there thought to use it but I am so much cleverer than you and I shall stutter and hesitate and use a whimpy voice so you all feel sorry for me even though I was quite capable of saying to the press the day before ' I acted in a lawful and reasonable way and who cares what you think!' without any stutter or hesitation or whimpy voice. And I will play you all cos I am safe in my job forever cos Boris can't run a piss up in a brewery and Brexit is coming and all this will cover up the fact that in 6 weeks time we will stop all negotiations with the EU and head for a no deal Brexit and we are going to make a lot of lolly between June and December because we will send the plebs back to work and practise herd immunity, and we have lost interest in Covid as we got rid of all those expensive pensioners for the sake of saving a broken NHS that we created and when December comes and Trump and USA own half this country we can make more money! Yay!

impressed how quickly he recovers. From not being able to stand up to driving long distancing. So ill you worry about your vision but planning to drive back to London and work. Ridiculous and cannot believe he is still in his job.

I believe his reasons for travelling north.

I don't believe it was necessary, though, or that his circumstances were so exceptional that it justified going against the guidelines/rules.

I don't like him, but mostly because I don't like that a single unelected bureaucrat seems to have so much influence, and I think BJs insistence that it was all above board and the joint refusal to apologise/resign/sack him illustrates the weakness of the pm. Which is a bad thing.

Let's face it - these people generally get fired and then sneak back in 10 mins later in another role. Being fired (multiple times?) doesn't seem to have hurt BJs career.

It was one of the most surreal things I’ve ever seen. Laughed out loud at the sheer audacity.

I find it intresting that Boris backed him up by saying his eye sight had deteriorated after covid and he now needs glasses

He's always worn glasses.

I was incensed by the story when it first broke, along with everyone else. I watched him on tv yesterday, and felt sorry for him, as a person. He seemed so nervous and it was like being thrown to the lions really. I always give people the benefit of the doubt, probably one of my failings in life. I am a believer in holding your hands up if you make a mistake/lie/whatever. He is not setting a very good example to the child.

If the dilemma was a WWYD, and he was asking the question, I would have said, stay put, speak to the police about harassment, and to the authorities about what he should do regarding his child if both parents became to ill to look after him/were hospitalised. He could have found a way to get any concerns he had into the daily briefing questions, surely.

I just hope people are not so stupid as to flout all the rules now, but looking at the news stories about seaside crowds last night, it might be too late.

I wonder if he had been briefed by a lawyer prior to the broadcast.

I'm more shocked people arent concerned that he drove to check his eyesight! Because everytime I've been to the optitions I havent been near a car
Hes just like a child who has been caught out and is trying to get out of it. Ffs just admit what you did.

it was completely bizarre, looked like a toddler covered in chocolate claiming hes not been in the biscuit tin

It's all a sack of shite.

We lost my fil to covid Easter weekend. In a nursing home after 2 weeks in hospital after not being allowed visitors. His funeral had 10 people as per guidelines. We can't access his property as his girlfriend lives there and we can't place her at risk by entering the property and she can't mive because her property needs work which she can't get done yet because it's not essential (unless you are 76).

He's a lying cunt who thinks that he and his wife and child are more important than the rest of us.

“I find it intresting that Boris backed him up by saying his eye sight had deteriorated after covid and he now needs glasses”

That was just ridiculous, like the question was about whether his eyesight was weird and not his judgement on testing it by driving!!!

It tells us who (he) was to blame for many of the policies which have lead us to the highest death toll in Europe. He was the architect of a lot of that, him and Boris and for that, they will never be forgiven.

I can't hate him as a person, but this government went on telly and lied to our faces that we had all misunderstood the guidance.

I did feel a bit sorry for him but he is where he is because of his utter lack of insight. While I would be understanding if a friend did similarly I would still advise not to break the guidelines if possible as it may put others at risk. He is in a public position and his adherence to the guidelines has to be more than others, not less. His failure to understand this, apologise and resign has led to the difficult situation we are in. I don’t think people will just forget about this. And as for the government why are they standing by him? He if they genuinely (uncorrectly) believed he had done no wrong the level of public feeling about this is so high that it would justify asking him to stand down Is he so important it justifies this level of public anger. That is truly worrying.

@dippyavocado
Boris said he hadn't need glasses for years but post covid he needed them again. I do hear it's common for grown ups to grow out of the need for glasses and then to find it easy to get an eye test and a new set in the middle of lockdown.

The whole things a joke.

His wife can drive so no need to test eyesight. I would laugh too if I were not so worried about more lives being list if people follow his example. I am praying that good ole Joe public who have been so steadfast these last months continues to value other people's lives as well as their own a bit more longer which I am sure the majority will!

It actually made me feel better about what he did.

I understand what he did

I'm not an idiot or a tool thanks.

It's all very well saying what we have done or would do, but none of us are in his position of being the PM's Chief Aide - a PM who was in bed, very ill himself.

His wife was ill (but as has been mentioned, not wit the CV symptoms we were being told about at the time), they were getting threats at the house And because he was working with many with CV they didn't feel they had anyone local they could ask to take the risk of looking after their son.

A couple of hours away is an empty house, with people that could help if necessary. Healthy young, least at risk people, who had offered.

As for the drive the day before. Yes. I can totally see a wife saying to her husband 'you haven't been well, are you sure you're up to driving? I think we should go for a drive and see how you feel today and if you're ok, go home tomorrow' and doing just that. They didn't go to a castle, they didn't go into the town, they stopped at the side of the road when the 4 year old needed a wee, they then took the opportunity for a bit of a leg stretch and for 4 yo to run around a bit.

They then came back to London the next day.

Other people made different decisions, other people didn't have his set of circumstances, most notably being the Aide to a very ill PM

I'm not saying his 'Elite position' grants him leeway, I'm saying he had a shit load of responsibility for the country and took what I consider appropriate action to ensure his family were safe so he was in a position to do that.

I catch that Johnson called him Dom at one point when he had been careful with the Mr Cummings. Asked to do the latter I suppose.

I didn’t want him to go anyway, just a statement so at least he did that. Although some of it was bizarre (test drive part)

I did catch

The next thing to come out of the government press machine will be move on the ordinary people are bored it’s just the metropolitan elite who are interested.
Just remember the currently government illegally prorogued parliament. The vote leave campaign committed electoral fraud. And now they have shown themselves unaccountable to the public and the media as well when breaking the rules they wrote. This is about more than just one mans trip to Durham.

His stated his position quite clearly. He did what he did, he'd do it again and he doesn't give a shit what people think about that. He's made it crystal clear that he has nothing but contempt for the public and thinks we're stupid enough to swallow it.

lattelove his wife can drive ffs! Well he's won you over very easily along with many more as I suspect was the idea.(sigh)

I'm surprised that anyone is surprised. There is always one rule for them and one rule for the rest of us. What's new?

I understand what he did

I'm not an idiot or a tool thanks.

Beg to differ tbh.

If you were concerned about your eye sight would you bundle your wife and child in the car and drive 30 miles?

Totally coincidentally to a local beauty spot on your wife’s birthday?

Or would you a) let your wife drive b) stay put for a while until you could be sure you were in a fit state?

Answers on a postcard!

I just can’t believe how willing people are to be taken for fools.

I thought the press treated him very badly with their relentless, repeated questions, and oh didn't they love the smugness with which they delivered them!

I think he has been rather silly, but I think we all need to get back to the question of the current crisis and concentrate on fighting that, rather than having it in for one man who has made a mistake whilst trying to protect his family.

Derxa

You need to get outside. Go into the fresh air.”

Bit rude. With 3 vulnerable loved ones, it’s not always that easy. But please don’t worry about me, I’ve got lovely gardens so have access to fresh air whenever I need it and my family with me.
Not like the poor sods in flats or rooms with no outside space and no company who have been abiding by the rules set by Dominic Cummings and Co. , absolutely believing they were doing the right thing and saving lives.
Arsehole.