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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do you think Dominic Cummings broke lockdown rules?

117 replies

KenDodd · 26/05/2020 22:57

Quick poll.
Yabu = yes, he broke the rules
Yanbu = no, he didn't break the rules.

OP posts:
Namenic · 27/05/2020 00:48

Would probs say that I could understand about the isolating near family IF no other option for childcare.

But hard to excuse trip to Barnard castle. 30 miles is a lot - non essential. Plus - not sensible to drive if in doubt of eyesight. Better wife drives him to opticians.

Freddiefox · 27/05/2020 00:54

What do people actually want?
I also want a decent opposition, with a shadow council that are able to hold the government to account.

480Widdio · 27/05/2020 00:58

He broke the rules.

His child is NOT autistic.

He needs to resign or be pushed.

PastMyBestBeforeDate · 27/05/2020 01:07

One of my children IS autistic. Our parents are 70+. We have no local family. I have no idea what we would have done if both of us had been really ill but it wouldn't have involved a 260 mile drive and a day out.

Topseyt · 27/05/2020 01:33

His child is NOT autistic. Even he hasn't said that. It was not mentioned once during his hour long press conference.

Yes, he broke his own rules. He should resign. However, I think the media scrum on his doorstep is very unseemly and should be stopped.

It is possible to call for someone's resignation and continue to call for it without that.

user1471453601 · 27/05/2020 02:23

I've said this before, and I'll say it again.

Hypothetically, if I had a young child and my partner ,caring for said child, called me from my v important work saying they were too ill to care for child: would I run home thinking it may be C19? Yes.

Later that same day, would I decide it was not C19 and return to work, endangering my v import boss and all his staff? No.

Would I then change my mind, and wonder if it might be C19. Possibly.

Would I then discount asking friends/family living nearby, including those with immense influence, to ask if they could possibly help me out if this this guess might may be right and my partner and/ or I had been exposed to C19, and, against the advice id drafted, my partner and I might get severev symptoms. No

Would I choose to put our child in a car, an enclosed space, for over three hours, with us, when id guessed I had symptoms of a deadly disease? No.

On recovery, would I drive for an hour with said child in the car, to prove to my partner my eyesight, which had become suspect was good enough to drive back home? No.

How many holes in a story does he expect us to accept?

NotEverythingIsBlackandWhite · 27/05/2020 02:31

No

PleasantVille · 27/05/2020 02:35

I agree with the poster who said there should be a Dominic Cummings topic, it's getting too much with all the individual threads, we don't need a poll, it's not Facebook. There is lots of proper discussion on all the othepr threads.

Ratasha · 27/05/2020 02:35

I can understand some divergence of opinion over the trip to Durham, although I think it was clearly in breach of the guidance.

However, if you truly believe he drove with his family to Castle Barnard to test his eyesight.........fucking hell.

tabulahrasa · 27/05/2020 02:46

@ItsASunnyDay

No. He had extenuating circumstances and acted as any worried parent. Not only that his property and family were subject to a ridiculous amount of media attention (they weren't social distancing I note...) He is lucky that he has the option that he did. You cannot compare this to people dying alone in hospital. Of course you can't go into hospital and put yourself at risk of infection. It's tragic that anyone has to die alone, but he was not dying he was ensuring he would have adequate childcare for his son as his wife was unwell and he was starting to display symptoms. Move on, the media witch hunt has been disgusting IMO.
So, there’s no adequate childcare in London? Despite him having relatives there, workmates, presumably friends, the resources a 3 figure salary plus whatever his wife makes to use to get it and the pull of being the closest aide to the prime minister.

Oh and he actually said he hadn’t tried to find any other childcare in London.

That’s such a hard thing to arrange that people who are running the entire country during a huge crisis are all going, ooft, too complex to resolve any other way, absolutely exceptional circumstances... no parent could be expected to sort that, so going the entire length of the country is totally fine.

Even though millions of parents have had to plan for that exact situation...

But the prime minister and cabinet all think it’s beyond a man who decides multiple times a day which information about the country is important enough for the prime minister to know?

Studlee · 27/05/2020 02:47

Definitely getting bored now. MSM aka #Scumedia have been disgusting hounding the man

Nancydrawn · 27/05/2020 02:53

I cannot tell you how sick and tired I am of hearing the media being called scum. They are an essential means of accountability and are vital to the operation of a democracy.

StoneofDestiny · 27/05/2020 09:27

Exactly / we need a critical and investigative media to hold governments to account and to safeguard our democracy!

StoneofDestiny · 27/05/2020 09:29

Funny how both Trump and defenders of Johnson like to use the mantra ‘fake news’ and ‘scum media’ whenever their deceit is exposed.

Alsohuman · 27/05/2020 10:02

Completely off topic but is that box for quoted text one of the features of premium MN?

tabulahrasa · 27/05/2020 10:03

@Alsohuman

Completely off topic but is that box for quoted text one of the features of premium MN?
It’s just there, next to report and PM and what have you...
Alsohuman · 27/05/2020 10:05

Thank you. I wish I’d known that before. Is it new?

Original poster
KenDodd · 27/05/2020 10:07

Thatcher with every fibre of my being but that woman had integrity.

I agree. But we've all learned in recent years how spectacularly well lying works. I don't expect politicians to stop now.

OP posts:
FliesandPies · 27/05/2020 10:10

Seems to be their only defence - 'it's not our fault the scum media keep reporting our wrongdoing!'

Legoandloldolls · 27/05/2020 10:15

Yes he broke the rules as they was at that time. Pisses me off really as we bought a house a few miles down the road we didnt go to to start moving in.

He wont go now, it will mean Boris has to back track. What's done is done. Anyway hes got his punishment now from.public backlash

Original poster
KenDodd · 27/05/2020 10:17

Exactly / we need a critical and investigative media to hold governments to account and to safeguard our democracy!
I agree, unfortunately we don't have this and they let politicians get away with lying.
The scenes outside DC house were unacceptable imo. If I were managing the journalists they would be disciplined, not for being outside DC house, but for not observing the two meter rule. Public safety should be the top priority imo, if DC shared my view he wouldn't have made his journey, rule or no rule, clearly his priority is DC though and has less concern about spreading a highly contagious disease that kills people.

OP posts:
MadgeMak · 27/05/2020 10:18

he was ensuring he would have adequate childcare for his son as his wife was unwell and he was starting to display symptoms.

Wrong. As per his own statement he was symptomless when they decided to drive to Durham. His reasoning was that he MIGHT become ill so therefore it was exceptional circumstances. There is nothing exceptional about a parent POSSIBLY becoming ill during a pandemic and needing help with childcare, it's not a unique position to be in, it's the position every parent in the world is currently in. Besides which, the exceptional circumstances clause was specifically put in place to enable those suffering from domestic violence to lawfully break lockdown to find safety. Absolutely disgusting that he has piggy backed onto the suffering of families experiencing domestic violence in order to justify his actions.

Original poster
KenDodd · 27/05/2020 10:20

Anyway hes got his punishment now from.public backlash
I don't think he cares. He knows the public can huff and puff as much as we like there's nothing we can do. Its four years until the election, two fingers up to everyone.

OP posts:
BigChocFrenzy · 27/05/2020 10:20

Well the former chief constable of Durham thinks Cummings broke the law and I'd trust his judgement over career politicians

Former chief constable of Durham police. Mike Barton

www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/may/24/defence-of-dominic-cummings-is-shameful-says-ex-durham-police-chief?

“It is clear he has broken the rules. It could not be clearer.
I cannot think of a worse example of a breach of the lockdown rules.
For it then to be defended by the government just beggars belief.”

FliesandPies · 27/05/2020 10:24

He knows the public can huff and puff as much as we like there's nothing we can do.

I think even he, the supposed media genius, has been taken aback by the strength of feeling on this. We saw his usual contemptuous response when he was asked questions outside his house as the story broke 'I don't care how it looks'

He's had to pull out all the stops to try to shut this down and it still keeps coming.

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