British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief aide Dominic Cummings on Monday dismissed calls to resign over allegations that he violated the coronavirus lockdown orders and disregarded the government’s response to the health crisis, Reuters reported.
“I have not offered to resign,” Cummings said during a press conference. “No, I did not consider it,” he added.
In April, Cummings drove across England to his parents’ house with his wife, while she was suffering from symptoms of the virus, CNN reported. During this time, Britain was reporting hundreds of deaths daily and had implemented strict lockdown measures, saying that even those with slightest symptoms of the virus should stay home at least for a week. At that time, the United Kingdom was entering “the deadliest phase” of the outbreak, according to several experts.
“In this very complex situation, I tried to exercise my judgement the best I could,” Cummings said, adding that he believed that in all circumstances, he behaved reasonably and legally. He did not apologise, but expressed regret for not asking Johnson for any permission to travel during the lockdown. “Arguably, this was a mistake and I understand that some will say that I should have spoken to the prime minister before deciding what to do,” Cummings said.
The chief aide is responsible for orchestrating the 2016 Brexit campaign that eventually saw Britain pull out of the European Union after over 50 years on January 31. Cummings is also a trusted advisor, who helped Johnson become prime minister.
Hours after Cummings’ press conference, Johnson said that he was informed in a “brief conversation” of his advisor’s whereabouts in April. On March 27, the prime minister had tested positive for coronavirus and was undergoing treatment. He returned to work only late in April.
“What I think did happen was while I was ill and about to get a lot sicker, we had a brief conversation in which I think Dominic Cummings mentioned where he was,” the prime minister said. “At that particular stage I had a lot on my plate and really didn’t focus on the matter until these stories started to emerge in the last few days,” he added.
The prime minister has been under immense pressure from across the political spectrum with everyone condemning Cummings for flouting lockdown norms. “This is actually painful to watch,” Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said in a tweet. “He clearly broke the rules, the prime minister has failed to act in the national interest. He should have never allowed this situation with a member of his staff.”
Shadow Secretary of the State of Justice David Lammy said: “Forget the personalities. The primary duty of any government in a deadly pandemic is to give its citizens clear public health advice. Dominic Cummings just confused the entire nation.”
Meanwhile, Douglas Ross, a minister for Scotland, quit in protest over Cummings’ trip, AFP reported. “I have constituents who didn’t get to say goodbye to loved ones; families who could not mourn together; people who didn’t visit sick relatives because they followed the guidance of the government,” he said in a Twitter statement. “I cannot in good faith tell them they were all wrong and one senior advisor to the government was right.” Ross added that Cummings’ interpretation of government rules was “not shared by the vast majority of people”.
United Kingdom has recorded 26.25 lakh cases and more than 39,996 deaths till Tuesday evening, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
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