I've always said, and I still do, that using the guidelines as he did, his move was within those guidelines. These guidelines were there for all to see and use in the same wayCrosspoolClarets wrote: ↑Tue May 26, 2020 11:48 pmI’ve not posted on this since his press conference, I’ve been weighing it up in my head.
I remain of the view that he didn’t break either the law or the spirit of it with the trip to Durham (it was an interpretation of the rules like many of us have made, like when we said it was wrong for Derbyshire Police flying those drones over car parks - we had to stay at home but it wasn’t in every situation, and we would have been daft to follow it slavishly even at risk to welfare).
However, he probably did fall foul if he stopped for fuel while potentially contagious - a Discovery can’t do that many miles easily. That could become an issue to trip him up (if he has left things out of his story it would definitely make it a resigning matter).
The two genuine concerns I have about breaking the spirit of the law, of British fair play if you like, are the first day in London and the trip to Barnard Castle.
In London he ran home then later in the day went back to work despite his wife having serious symptoms and him possibly being asymptomatic and transmissable (saying she had no cough nor fever is a bit disingenuous, there was clearly a huge risk she had Covid).
A round trip to a beauty spot on Easter Sunday after 2 weeks of hell is understandable but is clearly a breach of the rules, it wasn’t for exercise it was to test his driving. Ironically outdoor recreation is now likely to be Ok with minimal transmission risk but this wasn’t clear at the time.
So the press conference made me more concerned, not less, and now the reasons to keep him become harder to justify. There are two - he is critical to the plans to reform the north and the civil service / establishment bubble, and I’m not a fan of witch hunt politics, too many good people lose jobs for minor indiscretions and we are all the worse for it. So I can see why Boris would keep him, but it will be so damaging to his reputation if he does, a no win situation, impossible for me to come down on one side or the other. They have buggered the whole thing up by being too stringent with the lockdown - a huge mistake, looking at Sweden.
The waters have been muddied somewhat on here with all this talk about vulnerable children, and autism, neither of which Cummings has claimed. He stuck very firmly to the paragraph in the guidelines which states not all the rules, within the guidelines can be followed if there are children in the household.
I don't understand why the press, and some on here, are so hung up about stops at petrol stations. I've filled up many times, and I Carnt remember the last time I came within 20yds of anyone, you pay at the pump at most modern petrol stations.
The visit to Barnard Castle should be his downfall, for many reasons.