As my local MP hasn't bothered to reply, I have written to the Prime Minister today. Don't suppose he'll reply either.
This is my email in case anyone is interested.
Dear Mr Johnson
I am writing to you because I thought it might be timely to remind you that you are a public servant. You are elected by – and answerable to – the public.
You are clearly aware that there is huge public anger surrounding the actions of Dominic Cummings when he suspected that he and his wife had contracted Covid19. You seem to be content to dismiss this anger by repeating the mantra that much of what was said about Mr Cummings was untrue. This may well be the case, but is entirely irrelevant.
I am a member of the public. I am angry about the things that Mr Cummings admitted to in his own statement. My issues are as follows:
- It is wholly unacceptable for Mr Cummings to say that he had no child care options in London. This is a senior strategist. He should have had a plan in place before he became ill. He should have been mindful of the fact that the rules of the lockdown would have prevented him from travelling hundreds of miles to use his own family for childcare. I know many people with young children who have asked friends or family locally to step in and help if they become too unwell to care for their children. If Mr Cummings genuinely had no local friends or family then he should have asked the community for support as is the case with everybody else.
By travelling so far Mr Cummings clearly broke the rules of lockdown. He must have had to buy petrol at least once and risked transferring the virus to a different part of the country during his stay.
- The trip was Barnard Castle (a popular tourist destination which Mr and Mrs Cummings chose to visit on her birthday) was clearly unnecessary. If I pretend for the purposes of this communication that I believe his excuse of driving to this town to “test his eyesight”, then I have two questions. Firstly, why would a responsible father strap his four year old child into a car and drive if he thought his eyesight might be compromised? Surely this is reckless in the extreme. Secondly, if Mr Cummings’ eyesight was in doubt why did his wife not drive? If both adults were too unwell to drive, then they should have delayed their return to London.
As far as I understand it, Mr Cummings has wilfully ignored the lockdown and done exactly what he wanted to do. He chose to use his own family for childcare rather than local options. He risked public health by transferring the virus to another location 260 miles away. We’d all love to see our family, even if just to wave at them from one farm building to another. Most people understand however that we have a collective responsibility not to do that – especially if we suspect we may have the virus.
He then chose to take his wife out for the day on her birthday. The story he has made up to justify this day out is wholly inadequate and wholly unbelievable.
Mr Cummings should have resigned. As he has shown himself not to be a man of integrity and has not done so, you should have sacked him.
Neither of you has acted with any principal or honour. You have lied, made excuses and ignored the feelings of the public. You have now decided the matter is closed and act like a petulant child when questioned about it. The matter is not closed Prime Minister just because you want to it be. The matter will be closed when you acknowledge the wrong-doing and take action by removing Mr Cummings from his job.
I am very sad to say that in a time when the country needs a strong leader you have failed us all.