To be infuriated and deeply disappointed by this response from Flick Drummond, my MP

[Claliscool]

Absolutely flabbergasted at the 'let's move on' rhetoric. I wrote expressing my bewilderment at bjs support of dc at such a critical time and this was the response :

Dear.... ,

Thank you for your email regarding the recent matter of the Prime Minister’s adviser Dominic Cummings. I have received several hundred emails on this subject, making the case on both sides, all of which I am reading. I hope you will forgive me sending you a standard response, as otherwise it will be impossible for me to reply to everyone in a timely fashion and there are also many other constituents whom I am trying to help access Government support. I have made the Government very clear of the strength of your views and of the many others I have heard from.

I have never met Dominic Cummings or his family and wanted to wait until I heard all the facts before writing back to you. Having watched his press conference, I understood why he decided to drive to isolate himself in a cottage on his parents’ farm where he could get help from his family had both he and his wife become incapacitated. I have no idea what his childcare arrangements are in London, but it is difficult to place a four year old with people that you do not know. As a mother myself, I have always put my children first, so I can understand this.

We all use our own personal judgement and common sense during crises and this seemed to be a hurried and last minute decision from a worried father at a stressful time. I fully appreciate that many people did not feel that they were able to make the same decisions while undergoing similar or in some cases even worse hardships, and I understand the very real hurt and the anger this has caused.

I do not agree with his trip to Barnard Castle. People were allowed to drive to exercise if they have no local place to walk and this does not appear to have been the case in this situation.

I was disappointed to hear that his home and family had been targeted by the press and others at the beginning of the lockdown and hope that they will now leave his family alone.

There are many other key issues at stake in this difficult time and I am concerned that we are losing focus on those while attention is diverted by this matter. I want to concentrate on helping those constituents who still need my support and work on how we are going to improve our social care system.

I realise that this incident has caused a deep sense of anger, disappointment and frustration for many people, which I completely understand and which I am relaying to the Government. I feel incredibly sad for all of you who have lost loved ones or have not seen family for some time, some of your emails have been heart breaking. I hope that you have now been visiting family outside the home if you are able and I am sure that we will be announcing the further lifting of restrictions very soon.

The most important thing now is that we continue our progress in reducing the infection rate so that we can come out of lockdown and things can begin to return to normal. I will continue to support the Government as we move forward to get Britain back to work safely.

Thank you again for getting in touch. Keep safe and well.

Kind regards,

Flick



Flick Drummond MP

Member of Parliament for Meon Valley

[tara66]

There is piece in The Times today about outrage fatigue - people have become too tired to continue to feel strongly about Cummings and Co. as they are worn out by the shock and disappoint they have felt regarding the govt's handling of the crisis.

[MorrisZapp]

This is so boring. Politicians of all stripes have lied, fudged, dodged, waffled and misled since Parliament existed. Some of them outrageously.

It's not a uniquely Tory pastime, nor is it evidence of being a Tory if you find some aspects of this current backlash to be disproportionate.

I'm disgusted by his actions too but the PM has chosen to die on this hill so what are we going to do? Turn the biggest crisis of our generation into 'that time we complained about Dominic Cummings for months'?

I don't give a toss what some politico from Islington did two months ago. We've got vastly bigger fish to fry.

[ric12]

@Claliscool

My specific question was how she was challenging bj about twisting the truth.

And she twisted it right back.

Its immoral.

She didn't twist the truth. She sent you a standard response, because she hasn't got the time to reply individually to each of the several hundred emails she's received about this matter.

[AlternativePerspective]

I’m sick to the back teeth of the whole DC row now.

It needs to be put to rest. Yes, it was wrong, no he’s not going to be sacked. In the meantime while people are frothing about this there’s a pandemic around us which people are in danger of forgetting about.

He’s not the first and he won’t be the last. And it’s not a uniquely Tory thing either.

[ric12]

@SerendipityJane

DC didn't break the rules.

That's become irrelevant now. It's the government effort into defending him that's the story.

Why shouldn't the government defend him if he didn't break the rules?

[ITonyah]

It's amazing how naturally the language of abusers comes to Tory lips

What a horrible thing to say.

[ric12]

@ITonyah

It's amazing how naturally the language of abusers comes to Tory lips

What a horrible thing to say.

Well said.

[Frezia]

@ric12 I won't get drawn in by your baiting. What you're asking for has been laid out already by lots of sources and easy to find if you genuinely wanted to know. I get it, you do buy into it, good for you. I'm not interested in that discussion.

[Disquieted1]

All these people RAGING and FUMING and FROTHING AT THE MOUTH and going NUCLEAR have lost perspective.
They've overplayed their hand so much that many people are now feeling sorry for Dominic Cummings. Now who would've thought that even possible a couple of weeks ago?

[SerendipityJane]

Why shouldn't the government defend him if he didn't break the rules?

Shame they didn't put so much effort into securing PPE, or protecting health workers then, isn't it ? We can see how much they can work together when it's something important, and less so when it's less important.

If Boris had expended one millionth the effort he's put into defending DC towards Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, she would be here in the UK right now.

[thatgingergirl]

Everything MorrisZapp said.

[Alsohuman]

@Disquieted1

All these people RAGING and FUMING and FROTHING AT THE MOUTH and going NUCLEAR have lost perspective.
They've overplayed their hand so much that many people are now feeling sorry for Dominic Cummings. Now who would've thought that even possible a couple of weeks ago?

That isn’t what the polls say.

[ric12]

[quote Frezia]@ric12 I won't get drawn in by your baiting. What you're asking for has been laid out already by lots of sources and easy to find if you genuinely wanted to know. I get it, you do buy into it, good for you. I'm not interested in that discussion. [/quote]
I'm not baiting you. I just wanted to know what lies you think have been told.

[Somerville]

@Disquieted1

All these people RAGING and FUMING and FROTHING AT THE MOUTH and going NUCLEAR have lost perspective.
They've overplayed their hand so much that many people are now feeling sorry for Dominic Cummings. Now who would've thought that even possible a couple of weeks ago?

I feel sorry for the people who died, sometimes in care homes without enough pain relief, sometimes alone in hospital -even children. And I feel sorry for those mourning without having had a chance to say goodbye, even at a funeral - and yes, again, even the funeral of a child. I don't feel sorry for Cummings, who was caught out breaking the rules he helped enforce.
And I'm angry at his cronies who are too weak and spineless to govern without him, and thereby have undermined their own legislation so it is rapidly becoming unenforceable..

This country has the highest rate of deaths in the world, per capita - frankly I can't understand why any feeling citizen wouldn't feel deep sorrow and anger.

[ITonyah]

This country has the highest rate of deaths in the world, per capita - frankly I can't understand why any feeling citizen wouldn't feel deep sorrow and anger

Those deaths have precisely zero to do with DC driving to Barnard Castle.

[ric12]

@SerendipityJane

Why shouldn't the government defend him if he didn't break the rules?

Shame they didn't put so much effort into securing PPE, or protecting health workers then, isn't it ? We can see how much they can work together when it's something important, and less so when it's less important.

If Boris had expended one millionth the effort he's put into defending DC towards Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, she would be here in the UK right now.

That's just deflection. Stop changing the subject. Surely, if Cummings didn't break the rules, then it's legitimate for the government to defend him.

[Needamanicure]

Typical 'faff' and says nothing really!

[Somerville]

I don't give a toss what some politico from Islington did two months ago. We've got vastly bigger fish to fry. Bully for you. But look at all the people saying they don't have to follow the legislation now because he didn't. Look at the senior police officials saying the rules have now become unenforceable. Look at the level of public trust about the test and trace system, on which we have far behind and need to get rapidly working so that we can safely dismantle national lockdown.

The bigger fish is the public's trust in the government, their adherence to the rules, their belief in civil responsibility rather than finding loopholes. That's the story and that's why Cummings not going is causing hurt and anger to those who know it could cause longer lockdowns for all of us and more deaths of the vulnerable.

[justdontatme]

My Tory MP emailed back saying ‘Johnson thinks it’s fine & I trust Johnson’. Don’t really know where to go with that one...

[Somerville]

Those deaths have precisely zero to do with DC driving to Barnard Castle.
Bollocks and you know it. Trust in the rules is key in a pandemic and the government called him a man of integrity for tearing them up.

[Somerville]

@justdontatme

My Tory MP emailed back saying ‘Johnson thinks it’s fine & I trust Johnson’. Don’t really know where to go with that one...

I'd reply with the data (polling numbers) showing that even Conservatives are rapidly losing that self same trust - and worse, don't have trust in trace and track, which we need to get the economy moving again.

[luckylavender]

Lost your vote I hope

[HathorX]

I haven't come across ANYONE who feels sorry for DC. What he did was wrong. He and his wife then conspired to conceal it, avoided the subject until the press tried to bring him to account , then he used his position and influence with the PM and in the wider party to sell what frankly sounded like a very implausible pack of lies in the hope of whitewashing his actions. The corruption is not just DC's, it's a collusion at the top to present actions that flouted the law as being acceptable. It's the very definition of corruption - dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power. It shouldn't be swept under the carpet and simply overlooked. That is unacceptable. I am disappointed in any MP who fails to stand up for what is morally right. But I'm not surprised.

[SerendipityJane]

That's just deflection. Stop changing the subject. Surely, if Cummings didn't break the rules, then it's legitimate for the government to defend him

And it's also legitimate for many people to say "pull the other one it's got bells on" and continue to ask questions.

As I note, it's a classic abusers trick to move the debate on, and right now, I feel like I am being abused and gaslit by a whole fucking government.

Perhaps you want to tell me to mind my tone ?

[Khione]

MP has to toe the line or resign