Dominic Cummings Has No Regrets Over Alleged Lockdown Breaches
LONDON ― Dominic Cummings, a senior aide to U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said at an extraordinary briefing in Downing Street he “acted reasonably” by driving to Durham during lockdown, and has no regrets.
Cummings was under intense pressure to resign after he drove some 260 miles to Durham and made another trip to the town of Barnard Castle while there.
A string of Tory MPs have called on the PM to sack his adviser, after they were inundated with complaints from the public who have been obeying the ‘stay at home regulations’ stringently.
But Cummings attempted to bat down criticism of his actions on Monday, telling reporters “I have not offered to resign,” adding, “I have not considered it.”
The adviser said fears over a lack of childcare for his four-year-old son, as well as concern that he and his ill wife were possibly infected with COVID-19, drove the decision.
He denies breaking the rules or the spirit of the rules.
Asked if he felt he owed an apology to the public, he said, “I don’t think I’m so different, and I don’t think there’s one rule for me and one rule for other people.
“As I said, I knew what the guidance was. It talks about exceptional circumstances with small children, and I think that in all the circumstances I behaved reasonably and legally as I said.”
He went on to say, “I do not regret what I did” but added that “reasonable people may well disagree.”
The press conference was hastily organized on Monday afternoon after Johnson refusing to sack Cummings and claiming his aide acted “responsibly, legally and with integrity” stoked further fury.
The former Vote Leave boss also confirmed that he went on a “short drive” to Barnard Castle because his eyesight had been affected by the disease and his wife did not want to risk the long drive back to London.
He said: “My wife was very worried, particularly as my eyesight seemed to have been affected by the disease.”
He added: “We...
