Dominic Cummings travelled from London to Durham to self isolate

[chomalungma]

Seen running out of Downing Street
Went to self isolate with his wife in Durham with his parents when he had symptoms
Seems he had his family with him
He stayed with his wife and his parents looked after the children

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-52779356

One rule for us, one rule for him

I might have a little sympathy if he put his hands up and said "We were ill, we made an incredibly stupid choice, it was 100% the wrong thing to do, we're really sorry". But he probably can't say that because of the way his wife lied on the BBC.

@cantdothisnow1

"have you been paid to post that NotEverythingIsBlackAndWhite?"
No. Have you been paid by someone to post your comments?

I think in their situation most of us would do exactly the same. They are old parents with a very young child. They put their child's welfare first at minimal risk to anyone else. Do you never get sick of this nasty, relentless frothing? Every time it's gas mark egg on your face as you slink away.

@NotEverythingIsBlackandWhite

LOL, no but like the majority of the posters on here I'm not trying to defend the indefensible!

This story has made me so angry.

We have 2 small children. I remember trying to find guidance on what to do if both parents become too unwell to look after their children safely. There is none. NONE. I see now they're trotting out something that was said once in one press conference. I guess I missed that.

We had decided that of we both got very, very I'll at the same time we would simply HAVE to ask one of my husband's parents to come stay, despite the risk to themselves (under 70). It seemed totally shit and unsatisfactory, but that's what we would do if they're was no other option .

I thought it was a real gap in the official guidance, and that it would have been helpful for there to be information about the safest and most socially 'good' course of action, I thought it very unfair on both parents and potential carers that they didn't know what was (i) allowed (ii) the right thing to do when there were no 'good' options.

They clearly weren't too unwell to travel and drive. They shouldn't have gone. I'm so angry.

I cant believe the people defending him. They're all over twitter, with their flag profiles and names like 'proud patriot'. He's certainly got friends among working class brexiteers. So strange when he is the elitist of the elites and has never mixed with 'common people'.

There is no way to spin this is there? If he went before he became ill then why did he need his parents to look after his kid if he wasn't ill? If he went after he was ill, then how were both of them ill enough to look after their kid but not too ill to drive 250 miles?

And no way could they have travelled that far with a 4 year old without stopping.

'If he wasn't ill, why did they need childcare?'

The thing is, none of us know how we will be respond to Covid. It is well documented that some have mild symptoms and some sadly die. It really is a good idea to have a plan if you have a young child, rather than wait until a hospital admission.

Like all of us they had to weigh up risk and benefit. I would not want to hedge my bets and hope a nice friend stepped in to look after a 4yr old if I deteriorated.

If he'd just gone to visit like Kinnock's son, or Ferguson's gf I would of course criticise him, but I do think both parents having covid with a very young child are mitigating factors.

@InfiniteSheldon

Most people , who have been in this position, have followed the government guidance.

There has only been one occasion when I was too ill to care for my children when I was laid up with flu. I certainly was not well enough to drive anywhere and my mother in law came to me to look after my kids.

It really is a good idea to have a plan if you have a young child, rather than wait until a hospital admission

Of course - I wonder what alternatives he looked at.
The worst plan is to drive 250 miles when ill and shedding virus on the way.

He travelled to a region that (at that time) hadn’t had a high number of cases like other parts of the U.K. had. He travelled there before there was any extra nightingale hospital capacity. He knew his family were infected. This is outrageous.

@InfiniteSheldon really? You really think most people would put their parents at risk in that way?

Wow.

Rhonda
Kinnock's son travelled a short distance to visit on a birthday, when nobody was ill, and maintained social distance from his elderly parents when he got there. He was pilloried for it as it was a non essential journey.

He didn't take a known active infection halfway across the country to a higher risk family member and then mix with them, whilst strongly hunting in the press that he was isolating at home.

*hinting

The point is, they know what they did was wrong because they didn’t mention it when they spoke about their experience of the virus!

I would not want to hedge my bets and hope a nice friend stepped in to look after a 4yr old if I deteriorated.

but I do think both parents having covid with a very young child are mitigating factors.

Bollocks.

He is the PMs aide. If both of them deteriorated so much that they literally couldn't safely look after one 4 year old, then someone would be able to wheel in a nanny or something from somewhere.

My DH got (what we are sure was) Covid quite badly, he was really ill for over 2 weeks and couldn't get out of bed for about a week. I was pretty ill at times too. We have 2 fairly young kids and my parents live about 20 minutes away. It would never even occur to me to go to my parents so they could look after the kids. You could almost feel the fucking virus crawling all over the house I felt like we were shedding that much at one point and I didn't want to go within 100m of any humans outside of our household!

We muddled through, like the good little citizens that we are.

Much as I hate to defend the weasel (with apologies to the Mustelidae family), if I wanted to do a journey like that and had a young child, I would time it leave at 7pm ish, put them in pyjamas and they would probably sleep the whole way there, no need for a loo stop. And if the tank was fullish, they wouldn't need a petrol stop either. Although that wouldn't magically prevent them breaking down or having an accident, particularly if they were driving whilst ill.

They are one of the most well connected couples in the country. They could have found some local help with childcare if they both got too sick. There is no spinning this one.

Taken from the governments site. And this is the recent advice. So even if he was staying in the grounds it was not allowed.

1.7 Are there restrictions on how far I can travel for my exercise or outdoor activity?
No. You can travel to outdoor open space irrespective of distance. You shouldn’t travel with someone from outside your household unless you can practise social distancing - for example by cycling. Leaving your home - the place you live - to stay at another home is not allowed.

If he'd just gone to visit like Kinnock's son, or Ferguson's gf I would of course criticise him, but I do think both parents having covid with a very young child are mitigating factors.

There are no mitigating factors for you to leave the house if you have Covid let alone travel 300 miles. It's mind blowing that people are defending this. How many more people have to fucking die?

'Bollocks'

Well it's my opinion, sorry if I don't agree with you .

I could childishly say bollocks to your rather odd 'you could almost feel the fucking virus crawling all over the house' but I won't because it speaks for itself.

In the incredibly unlikely event that they really couldn't find a friend or relative to take over, and couldn't hire a nurse or a nanny, social services would have stepped in. Which is precisely what would happen for anyone else.
Would a friend, a nurse of a nanny really want to look after the child from a home where the parents are suffering Covid? Wouldn't that be irresponsible and potentially also infect others?

I think most people, all other things being equal, would travel to a house on their parents estate in case the parents were needed to look after their child, in the event of them becoming seriously ill, rather than let SS look after them. It is just that most people aren't in the situation where their parents have an estate with separate housing on it for them.

I would do that (if It was in that situation) rather than have SS involved. Where would SS put the child? Oh yes, into a different home where others could potentially become infected.

It is just a very difficult situation for anyone in that position. IMO it is better to be in a separate house on the parents' estate.

I think in their situation most of us would do exactly the same. They are old parents with a very young child

They are rich enough to afford professional care or have their parents visit them, which would have been within the law, Cummings broke the law he helped design, not some guidance
The Police have given out 1000s of fines but the wealthy & powerful don't get these, they get "advice given" or "no further action"

However, from what i see, many tory voters will support their party whatever they do, people defend the tories for helping out the mass murderer Pinochet or Thatchers friendship with Saville, so whats a little lockdown breaking?

I'm utterly and totally astonished that there are people defending this.

There’s more to this story than meets the eye. No-one feeling too ill to look after their child could stomach such a long journey. When I felt at my worst ever (normal flu) I couldn’t even walk to the bathroom.