DC isn't stupid

[cakeandcustard]

He doesn't think the rules need to apply to him because he is of superior intellect to the masses. He would have known that the 'testing his eyesight' excuse for traveling to Barnard Castle sounds stupidly far fetched. The only way he can be ousted is to resign or be pushed based on the civil service code of conduct. He's blatantly showing us that it doesn't matter how he behaves as he has Boris is backing him up and insisting that we just 'move on'.

AIBU in thinking this is just his way of proving that he is untouchable and he's probably enjoying it? It feels like a sort of old boys bet 😕

people were expected to (and did) deal with similar circumstances without driving the length of the country for family support.

I don’t agree. It is very much like the many threads on here expressing outrage that people were exercising outside for more than 1 hour even though the lockdown rules said no such thing.

This is similar in my mind as the lockdown rules did not say “do not use family members for childcare” but instead said “should not use family members for childcare if possible.” The expectation came from people misinterpreting the rules, not from the rules themselves.

Oh, and the country of England is more than 260miles in length.

DC made a personal decision that his circumstances were exceptional.

Well, yes that’s what every person does who has exceptional circumstances. You don’t call the police and ask for confirmation. You decide yourself. Just like the thread on here where the OP had the suicidal friend that her DH had to visit to save his life. Or should DC have asked Mumsnet first?

Stone
do you think it was responsible parenting to

Irrelevant to the question which is did DC violate lockdown rules? This isn’t a debate about how good a parent he is or isn’t. And it would be wrong to base a determination on whether lockdown rules were broken purely on your opinion that DC isn’t a “responsible parent”.

@PlanDeRaccordement what about a 60 mile drive because you aren't sure your eyes are good enough to .............drive? Would you recommend that, do you think it was a good idea. If he is brilliant God help us all.

Cummings has lied
Prove it. There is no evidence he has lied.

mere coincidence it was his wife's birthday

Yes, it can happen. Most of my DCs have been sick on a birthday of theirs. One unlucky one came down with chicken pox on their 7th birthday, strep throat on their 8th birthday, vomiting stomach flu on their 10th birthday. This DC now is convinced they are cursed to always be sick on their birthday. It does happen.

Just like some people get sick on their wedding day, or an anniversary, etc.

what about a 60 mile drive because you aren't sure your eyes are good enough to .............drive?

That was stupidity. You see, I think DC and most politicians are actually very stupid. You need only look at the state of things to realise we are led by absolute morons who happen to be in power due to their winning personality rather than having more than two brain cells.

@PlandeRaccordement, we know he lied about the baying mobs outside his house because we have the testimony of everyone else in that area that it just was not true.

We also know that either he or his wife have to have lied because their accounts differ in a number of very important details. Which would you like it to be?

I can't decide if DC is one of those men who have never looked after his kid alone (hence dashing to Durham for possible childcare) or he had massive PFB and didn't think that sticking the tv on and ordering takeaways or ordering an assistant to being food was good enough.

Totally agree, I’ve been wondering about that myself.

I just can’t understand how millions of parents across the country thought that travelling on the OFF CHANCE that they would both become ill with coronavirus was not a valid reason for travel.

Yet Dominic Cummings and Mary Wakefield thought their case was exceptional.

We were being told repeatedly that coronavirus would only result in a mild illness for the vast majority of people.

It concerns me that people don't get the fact that DC, wife and child self isolated in a house near his parents' house when he buggered off to Durham. They mixed with no one.
He could have easily done that in London

He went there 'just in case'. His words.

He wanted to go off to the countryside to his parents' farm in the country and escape virus ridden London. It's obvious. It has absolutely nothing to do with childcare, and I'm not convinced he didn't come back to London on his own, leaving his wife and child up there. And she went off to her family estate (Chillingham Castle) about 25 miles away to see her parents whilst he was back in London. Not proven yet but we'll see.

Oh and... neither were tested for COVID (again .. his words) so we don't even know if she or he had it.

we know he lied about the baying mobs outside his house

I saw a few pictures of him outside his house and he was surrounded by a good dozen people. To me, I would feel it was a baying mob.

He can tell the future then, mobs outside his house in late May so he goes off to Durham in March. The bit I can't understand, because I'm not a genius like him, is why he came back if these mobs were a danger to his child and why he is there now when he has had mobs outside his house.

PlanDeRaccordement

Incorrect. Not when he went off on his jaunt to Durham. The reporters are as a result of that

Also, all those connected with Govt have a right to Police outside 24 hours if they so request it

"I'm off to Durham in case reporters camp out outside my house" doesn't wash

My take on it is that he didn't agree with the lockdown but couldn't get his way so he decided to undermine it in a blatant way, but one that could be presented with enough ambiguity to pretend it was innocent.

He wanted people to break lockdown. He wanted civil disobedience. He wanted chaos. He was only disappointed it took so long to come out.

He's not daft. And although he is arrogant he would have considered the consequences of his actions. Now people are relaxing the rules using his behaviour as an excuse. He's happy, that's what he wanted.

The outrage is all out of proportion to the alleged offence.
Why was he not pressured to resign when he was in charge of the PIP disaster that has been proven to cause the deaths of thousands of U.K. disabled? Why not when he again mismanaged Universal Credit causing homelessness and rough sleeping to skyrocket?

It seems that this is a very bourgeois reaction. He got to keep his job when his actions were killing and making homeless the most vulnerable in society, but he drives a few hundred miles for family support during lockdown (not smart, not responsible, but not illegal) and oh my, middle class people want him gone because they think he’s acted “better than”.

Why do you think it is just 'middle class' people who are angry?

It’s middle class because they have similar situations but chose to go it alone without asking for family support. Similar situation would be: two professional London parents, working from home, with family living in the country in homes large enough for them to stay at or a second home in the country themselves. These are the people who are angry.

Working class more likely to be key workers who have worked through the lockdown: (nurses, carers, bin collectors, delivery drivers, utility workers, shop clerks, bakers, commercial premises cleaners, hospital cleaners, maintenance/appliance workers like plumbers, electricians, carpenters,etc). They do not have second homes in the country or family on large estates with big manor houses for them to stay at.
Also, many have been using local family (grandparents) for childcare because no choice and so they are not angry at DC because they’ve had to do the same.

I think you live in a dream world when it comes to class- which isnt suprising to see in a tory.