Minister resigns over Dominic Cummings’ alleged lockdown breaches

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Dominic Cummings’ alleged lockdown breaches have provoked a resignation from government by a junior minister amid continued anger at Boris Johnson’s chief adviser.

Douglas Ross, the under secretary of state for Scotland, said on Tuesday that he was quitting after hearing Cummings’ efforts to defend his trip from London to Durham.

Ross said he could not “in good faith” tell his constituents who could not care for sick relatives or say goodbye to dying ones while obeying lockdown rules that Cummings acted appropriately.

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The first resignation over the allegations rocking the government came as Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove sought to defend his longstanding ally.

Ross said that “while the intentions may have been well-meaning”, Cummings’ interpretation of the rules was “not shared by the vast majority of people”.

“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,” the Tory MP for Moray wrote.

“I cannot in good faith tell them they were all wrong and one senior adviser to the government was right.”

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  • Show Comments
    1. Cummings is shameless. He drove to Barnard Castle to test his eyes sight. Well, well, well. The way to ensure your eyes are in good order is to take the roads and put other people’s lives at risk. Who can believe this the-dog-ate-my-homework excuse? He went to Barnard Castle for a trip out. Nor did he go to Durham because he couldn’t find child care in London. The man is well-connected and rich. He could have found a thousand people to look after his child. What has everybody else had to do?
      Let’s suppose Jeremy Corbyn had made a two-hundred mile trip to visit a sick relative during lockdown. Do you think the BBC would be saying: “Well, he was just doing the best for his family.” Do you think Johnson would be saying the public can appreciate the difficulties of his situation.
      I had to go to the dictionary this morning just to make sure the word “hypocrisy” is still there. This is the elite doing what it likes. Nothing else. Cummings is despicable and his boss is a moron.

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