To think that the Govt response to Cummings saga is worse than the actual breach of lockdown

[HerstoryInTheMaking]

DC broke lockdown twice. I think that this is universally accepted.

This is one thing, its bad but an apology probably would have sufficed and a resignation or sacking would have solved the issue. Done and dusted

However the nonsense about how he didnt break lockdown, how the PM and cabinet ig nore press questions and continuously lie.

As if anyone with half a brain is going to believe he drove 60 miles to test eyesight on what happened to be his wifes birthday.

Its as if the government are treating people as if they are fools this is making it much much worse.

They could have acknowledged the breach of the rules. Instead they have attempted to lie continuously.

Why cant they just admit he fucked up. I can accept that but I cant accept the nonsense being spewed by the govt.

Plus of course that it has trashed the public health message, so if there is second wave, this government has very little chance of controlling it. And still the PM can't/won't manage without him.

I would have just accepted his apology I wouldn't have expected his resignation I would have been comfortable with that

The journalists' next question for the PM needs to be "Why is one man so important to you you're prepared to risk so much political capital and the nation's ability to deal with the CV crisis ?" He won't answer it of course but the question needs to be out there.

I wrote a brief email to my local MP (Tory) and got a reply within a couple of hours saying he agreed. I’m pleased that I emailed because it really made me angry.

Yes, if he’d admitted he was wrong and apologised he’d have appeased a lot of people.

The blatant bullshit has pissed off a heck of a lot of people.

DC's fans think that the outrage is false & actually driven by Remainer activists . yes, really.

A man who understood very well how to turn the class resentments of Britain to his personal agenda advantage -- totally didn't see this one coming.

DH thinks that's impossible, though, must be a scam in fact, and that we're all being manipulated.

@Inoneminute - Why is one man so important to you you're prepared to risk so much political capital and the nation's ability to deal with the CV crisis?

Quoting this now in my email to my MP. Government sits on 2nd June. Hopefully this will linger so BJ can be challenged in PMQs.

Yes it’s the handling of it that’s the issue, he panicked and broke the guidance is reasonable.

A whole cabinet stating repeatedly that he didn’t break the guidance because even attempting to find other childcare was so complex and exceptional that he just had to go to Durham and then going along with any reason no matter how ludicrous like testing your eyes by driving just isn’t.

This government has been breathtaking in its gaslighting of the British public the whole way through this pandemic. I for one am thrilled that it's now so blatant that no one can ignore it.

I do worry this is diverting our attention away from other much more worrying things though... What aren't they saying?

Yes it is. This will cause more deaths.

I’m cross and frustrated. There is me tying myself in knots about whether to meet my mum with my 6 month old son for a social distant walk so I can see an adult this week. I have had the same worries about who will look after my child if I became ill when OH is away working. I could understand the panic of doing what he did and move past it If he held his hands up and apologised. Or if they are so insistent that he hasn’t broken rules that the government apologise for not making it clearer that this sort of situation was allowed. But they seem to be turning the blame onto us for not understanding the rules. The fact that in a pole about 70% people felt he broke lockdown highlights that this exception was not clear but apparently it is our fault for not understanding the guidelines. So yes the government’s handling of it is now worse than the actual offence.

The fact is that Boris Johnson is so idle, incompetent, and generally useless that someone is needed to act for him.

On another question, I am fed up with people towing the line. Do they think they are canal horses?

Yes absolutely agree, my DH and I were saying this today. The breaches of the lockdown are one thing. But gaslighting 65 million people is something else!

Also agree with the many posters questioning what’s behind this. It just doesn’t add up. DC is valued for reading the electorate’s mood. Why has he got it so wildly wrong on this issue? And why was the government prepared to sacrifice so much and make themselves look so ridiculous in order to protect him? What’s he got on them? I can only assume it’s sex tapes. Or worse.

We've all been towing the line too much. More fool us. It's almost like we just found out we live inside a propaganda machine.

Confused about what DC could have on Boris other than the many unsavoury stories already in the public domain. It must be bad if there is something

It also highlights the huge class divide between this government and the governed and how blind they are to it. It’s as if they can’t see how toxic it is that the only reason why he could do this is that he had access to a dwelling in the grounds of his parents’ home and could go for a walk in his father’s wood.

Just been wondering what DC has on the government. Remember his team of Vote Leave AI people mine data in order to manipulate people. Maybe he’s accessed the personal data/emails of the cabinet. His team have the tech knowledge.

Whatever the reason is the only power I have is my vote. I gave them my vote because where I live the alternative was a liberal who wanted self ID. We now live in a situation where whoever we vote for gaslight us and lie without consequence. We are voiceless.

Yes of course it is.

I don't think they realise the massive impact this loss of trust will have on the general public and the fight against covid.

A close family member is an a&e nurse and since the story broke her department has been full of people with minor ailments again after being virtually empty for months and many have said if Dom Cummings can break lockdown so can they ( she doesn't tend to exaggerate so I very much believe her)

Dom Cummings is an elitist. He genuinely believes he is superior and the rules do not apply to him. He won't apologist because he genuinely feels that he is above the law.

The lockdown effort may be severely affected by his arrogance and actions.

Interesting that they seem to be digging the hole even deeper this morning. After Matt Hancock said last night that fines would be reviewed for lockdown breaches for childcare reasons, Robert Jenrick this morning said they wouldn't and it was up to police not to enforce.

Even BBC breakfast seemed to think this wasn't perhaps absolutely consistent.

I don't think they realise the massive impact this loss of trust will have on the general public and the fight against covid

It’s bigger than that. Trust in the entire political system is in danger.

Agree.

Makes it painfully obvious where the power lies, and who works for whom.

The most hilarious aspect of this was Gove on TV saying that, yes, he'd also driven somewhere to test his eyesight (and his wife's increasingly batshit tweets about it all)

Actually, I think the claim to have driven 60 miles to test his eyesight is much worse than any breach of the lockdown rules.

I don’t know whether this is true, but someone on my twitter feed said that admitting to driving for those reasons is admitting driving without due care and attention and Cummings should be prosecuted for that.