Dominic Cummings using his child's autism as an excuse

[Almahart]

So it looks as if the next excuse to be wheeled out is that Dominic Cumming's child is autistic.

My child is autistic. I know many families with autistic children.

This is what I have heard of happening for these families during Coronavirus:

• no school (yes I know schools should be taking vulnerable children. But many are not)
• no respite
• no transport to school even if they are open
• regular activities cancelled
• the fear that provision provided by local authorities through Education Health and Care Plans and suspended under the Coronavirus Act will slowly disappear

I know of many single parents alone with their child who are seriously struggling and who did not break the rules during lockdown.

To use autism as an excuse is beyond low. It is revolting and has made me even angrier than I was before

Also, re the rumour his son is autistic- I suspect as OP said it was put out there on Twitter to see how it would fly (a really common strategy), as perhaps his son is actually autistic, but the backlash and outrage at this in the autism community (parent of an autistic young person here) in those few hours was so strong that they abandoned that line of defence. Those not directly affected might be unaware of how the tories have decimated disability rights in this country. It hurts like fuck and it's very raw.

Who knows, perhaps the half hour delay to the press conference was on account of a swift re-write of the statement as a result of this! 😄

Wouldn't advice from the authorities be that you shouldn't drive 5 hours without a break anyway?

The dog that didn't bark...

Brendan O'Neill's attack lines which are popping up all over social that and Johnson's "you will need to make up your own minds" crap.

The media’s Dominic Cummings story has completely collapsed. He did NOT go to Durham a second time, which was reported on the front page of the Sunday Mirror and the Observer. He did NOT have any physical contact with family members. The police did NOT talk to the Cummings family about the Covid lockdown guidelines. Cummings did NOT carry on doing things that everyone else had stopped doing — he even missed the funeral of his uncle who died from Covid. He did NOT leave his London home for leisure reasons — he left it because he was receiving death threats as a result of media demonisation. He was very ill, his wife was ill, and at one point his child was taken to hospital in an ambulance in Durham.

His family has had a really rough time and the media have told lie after lie about him. The scandal is not Cummings’ behaviour — it is the collapse of ethics and objectivity in the British media.

The media’s Dominic Cummings story has completely collapsed

It so hasn't....

How is a 4 year old boy going to be able to leave his home safely and without trauma for some fresh air with the lynch mob baying at and dangerously crowding whoever walks out of DC.s front door?

Does his house have a back door?

And maybe his mater could refrain from including him in her stories in news magazines?

I’m sure DC will be delighted that one person believed him, Vera.

Which of these sounds more plausible to you:

• Man takes wife and child on a little day trip for wife’s birthday

• Man is unsure whether he can see properly / is safe to drive so decides to make an hour round trip in his car, and takes his wife and child along? And then takes a break to sit by the river because... who knows.

You surely cannot believe the utter nonsense that man spouted yesterday.

Sertchgi123

Are you CCHQ or one of Cummings minions?
( in reply to your question)

TonicAndGinPlease

Not everyone else is getting death threats!

Yes they are.
Genuine threats.
Specially BAME Mps.
It doesn’t mean that they get to act outside the law or use it as an excuse for their Irresponsible behavior.

@Deathgrip sorry I was quoting Brendan O'Neil's alt-right attack lines as a warning (my italicising never works) nit as support. Oh no , oh no I hate the lying bastards with a vengeance.

@vera99 he didn’t have any contact with family members...but he intended to (hence the reason for the trip).

Oh and the police DID talk to the family about the lockdown guidelines. They did so following a call from DC’s father - DC’s family have admitted this.

He said he left his home in case his son needed care, the threats were an afterthought (according to him), but you’ve obviously decided that they were the main reason, and justified the trip. Not sure there are any exceptions in the guidelines that say you can break lockdown “if receiving threats”.

His statement yesterday corroborated everything in the guardian/mirror initial report, so not sure what all these “lies” are you’re referring to.

@Sertchgi123 if all the stuff in the press is spin, what do you think the truth is?

DC literally made a statement where he corroborated all the key elements of the story. People are entitled to say that they disagree that his account was (a) reasonable, (b) within the guidelines and (c) believable. That’s called free speech.

Interested to hear your take on it though.

My mental health has seriously deteriorated with the thinking of the majority of this country.

It looks like mumsnet are mostly sensible but when I go onto social media and or speak to my family, they are all in defence of Cummings.

Not only do many many people think what Cummings did was fine (driving a child during a pandemic to a beauty spot when you have bad eyesight and coronavirus)... They are critical of any opposition to the tories whatsoever.

If your the MSM your not allowed to be critical. If your a remain voter your not allowed to be critical. If you didn't vote Tories you can't complain, your just trying to polical point score. If your a teacher or doctor you shouldn't be allowed to complain about problems your facing. If your in a 'militant' Union your a traitor to this country for talking about your safety.

The list goes on and on and I'm hearing this to often. Do we really want to live in a society where we have 1 party your not allowed to complain about. It seems what many people desire is north Korea.

@Hitchyhero I agree. I’ve seen loads of comments on here basically condemning the press for reporting this.

This is one of the few political stories I can remember in recent times where the Guardian and the Daily Mail are on the same side. Surely that tells us something.

HarrietM87

@Hitchyhero I agree. I’ve seen loads of comments on here basically condemning the press for reporting this.

This place is infested with Tory astroturfing. They parrot govt scripts repeatedly.
It’s so bloody obvious.
Cummings all over.
He fancies himself as some sort of overlord of the net.

Hence why he dresses like a 15 year old hacker.

He did NOT leave his London home for leisure reasons — he left it because he was receiving death threats as a result of media demonisation and yet he, parent of the year, who put his child's welfare ahead of the Govt rules, didn't remove his son Ron the situation until his wife felt ill and then brought him back as soon as he was better.

Why not leave them there or she go up alone with the child earlier or them all go up and him come home.

His statement yesterday only leads to more questions:

Why didn't he ask a family member to collect his wife/son the next morning after their hospital visit if the reason he drove all the way to Durham was to rely on their help if need be? Instead he drove to pick them up whilst clearly still suffering from Covid.

We were told to stay at home so we didn't transport the virus to another area and overwhelm the NHS there. He drove north knowing that they were all likely infected with Covid and then had to visit a hospital in the area.

Driving to test your eyesight to see if you're capable of driving is the most ridiculous and mad thing to say at anytime but in these circumstances it actually makes me think he is playing a game with us all and just flung that in to prove how untouchable he was. He drove to Durham because he was worried about his child but he also put him in a car whilst he drove to test his eyesight. And said without a hint of irony.

Damn right the press should keep hounding him. He confirmed what they already knew but he hadn't answered any of their questions in the previous six weeks.

He rushed home when his wife was ill with suspected Covid. On this basis he drove the following day to Durham but not before going back into work knowing he may have it. Can't have it both ways.

What makes this guy so fucking exceptional that he is so indispensable? He is not!

I think people need to calm down and make decisions based on their own personal situations. All rules have an exceptional circumstances clause and many of us don't have exceptional circumstances in this case, I know I don't.

Out of choice, without the rules, you'd hope responsible and considerate people would:

Be hygienic and avoid public transport and other public places that could help spread the virus.
Stay away from others who could bring with them the virus.
Not visit people at risk of struggling to fight the virus.
Not travel far in case there's an accident; travel at quieter times if a must.
Not stay in holiday homes as the local area might have less facilities should you become ill.
etc. Just avoid spreading the virus!

But we might consider using the exceptional circumstances clause if our individual situation lead us to, whilst still achieving the above.

Personally, I chose to lockdown 10 days before the official lockdown, but I am not full of anger, hatred and bitterness towards DC, because I took responsibility for my own life, and that of my children's. My family might not be seeing each other, but that's best right now? Irrespective of what DC did, what advantages he might have had, it makes no difference to what I would choose to do. Would you? I mean, knowing the full facts of what DC and his wife did, would you really have said oh well I'm going to party, or I'm going to visit my unwell relative? You just wouldn't.

We spend years saying we're not a nanny state, we can decide for ourselves, we're not being told what to do and now, many are behaving like the politicians are our guides, our parents, our instructors, etc. We are supposed to be empowered, free-thinking people in the UK. We choose our role models!

I am going to continue to lockdown, not out of fear, not because of rules, but out of consideration to others; I personally believe the method to be flawed, but it's the strategy being used.

I'm not looking to be told how to apply common sense to the current situation, because I can work it out myself. Many have flouted lockdown in ways you'd be horrified about, many who are seething about DC are actually flouting it as we speak and have been. But, I'm not going to just because they have. I will continue to look at things reasonably and objectively and from a politically homeless perspective.

Note: there's a lot of vile language on here - I am surprised!

Considering Cummings time in Russia and his use of their election propaganda techniques in the Leave Campaign, is anyone surprised his online minions haranguing anyone who criticises him have Russian style user names?
Bit bloody blatant!

Sertchgi123

Can you explain to me what Cummings learned in his time in Russia and what his relationship is now with the country and its leaders?
He is a self proclaimed Russophile and is involved in extensive data harvesting of U.K. citizens data in his role as advisor. It seems that these two passions of his are linked?

Supposedly his main agenda is to gather and digitise as much citizen data as possible?
And to automate And expand govt data harvesting as much as possible?

Russophile?
Really?
What is there to love about Russia, its a failed state😳
Putin like smaug the dragon guarding his stolen hoard

Supposedly his main agenda is to gather and digitise as much citizen data as possible? And to automate And expand govt data harvesting as much as possible?
I notice you incorrectly claimed on another thread that his sister is Alice Cummings. Are these claims also linked to your incorrect assertion that he had enabled his sister to do just that? Please share with us how you have access to his "agenda".

Cummings lived there for a couple of years, his wiki says he speaks Russian and is a self proclaimed Russophile.
Which makes his zeal in digitising And citizen data Suspect imo

Digitising And harvesting Citizen data.
It’s been his ardent mission