Dominic Cummings to make public statement this afternoon

[the other bob wilson]

First thing to say is that the clock on the screen said 16.32 when Dominic Cummings started talking in a press briefing that we were told would start at 4 o clock. I know late attendance for these sort of things is the norm for some people, but this was an address to the country and it did not look good.

Cummings seems to believe that the anger people feel is down to how this matter has been reported. I can't speak for others, but what made me incredulous was the fact that he chose to drive 260 miles with his child while he and his wife were suffering with symptoms (albeit not a fever and continuous dry cough).

It seems to that, At the very least, the judgement Dominic Cummings showed was very questionable and worrying for the country given the role he has in the way the country is run.

[Eric the Half a Bee]

And he’s adviser to the PM, God help us!!

It explains a lot.

[Heisenberg]

Testing his eyesight. FFS.

Here's an eyetest for those who are considering a car journey anywhere

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Senior tories jumping to his defence

Tossers the lot of him

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Here's an eyetest for those who are considering a car journey anywhere

I have got very poor eyesight

Doctors are confused but I know what's caused it

[IanD]

Hes deluded

He should be seeing a psychiatrist

I will give him a few contacts

Adult high-functioning autism, by the look of it. Explains his intellectual capacity, poor social skills and over-reaction to the situation whilst being protective of his wife and child. Put simply he doesn't comprehend, in terms of normal social parameters what he has done wrong. If he wasn't a senior adviser to the government, he could just as easily be living on the streets. Not an easy person to work with or get on with but you can see why Johnson wants him on the team as he does the thinking for him.
Psychiatrist....maybe. Psychologist....maybe. Counselling...definately.

[Baloo]

Here's an eyetest for those who are considering a car journey anywhere

He wasn't sure he was fit to drive so he put his wife and child in the car for a spin to find out. Why not leave them at home in that case and follow any fathers instinct?

[Vindec]

I'm trying my best to keep a balanced view. The good thing is that he gave every journalist the opportunity to question him and I guess many of us would do the best we could for our immediate families in similar circumstances. However, he gave a ludicrous account of his visit to Barnard Castle as that clearly was against the rules whatever the circumstances. The eyesight story was plainly daft. He seemed to have selective amnesia about his discussions with Boris Johnson and questions have to be asked whether his account was honest. Whichever way you look at it he broke the rules when he went to Barnard Castle and that alone would probably have forced any other senior public servant to resign.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Adult high-functioning autism, by the look of it. Explains his intellectual capacity, poor social skills and over-reaction to the situation whilst being protective of his wife and child. Put simply he doesn't comprehend, in terms of normal social parameters what he has done wrong. If he wasn't a senior adviser to the government, he could just as easily be living on the streets. Not an easy person to work with or get on with but you can see why Johnson wants him on the team as he does the thinking for him.
Psychiatrist....maybe. Psychologist....maybe. Counselling...definately.

Ritalin ?

[Hilts]

After that farce im suprised hes wanted as an adviser.

Wrong on all sorts. Is it ok to put a 17 year old at risk.?

Im sick of these Tory twats sticking up for him.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

I'm trying my best to keep a balanced view. The good thing is that he gave every journalist the opportunity to question him and I guess many of us would do the best we could for our immediate families in similar circumstances. However, he gave a ludicrous account of his visit to Barnard Castle as that clearly was against the rules whatever the circumstances. The eyesight story was plainly daft. He seemed to have selective amnesia about his discussions with Boris Johnson and questions have to be asked whether his account was honest. Whichever way you look at it he broke the rules when he went to Barnard Castle and that alone would probably have forced any other senior public servant to resign.

I hope he stays and drags down scruffy with him

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Virologist expert from nottingham university is astounded by cummings actions

But sod that , senior tories think the boy done good

[J R Hartley]

I'm trying my best to keep a balanced view. The good thing is that he gave every journalist the opportunity to question him and I guess many of us would do the best we could for our immediate families in similar circumstances. However, he gave a ludicrous account of his visit to Barnard Castle as that clearly was against the rules whatever the circumstances. The eyesight story was plainly daft. He seemed to have selective amnesia about his discussions with Boris Johnson and questions have to be asked whether his account was honest. Whichever way you look at it he broke the rules when he went to Barnard Castle and that alone would probably have forced any other senior public servant to resign.

Questions to be asked if the account was honest? Plural?

I disagree. Just the one single question to be asked.

Q. Was the account honest?

A. No

[IanD]

Ritalin ?

Not sure about that. Ritalin is more for ADHD, as I understand it.

[Heisenberg]

He wasn't sure he was fit to drive so he put his wife and child in the car for a spin to find out. Why not leave them at home in that case and follow any fathers instinct?

After packing up the car before heading home to London, then taking the trip to Barnard Castle to see if he was safe to drive home,they went back to Durham and headed to London the next day. Any good father would have gone to Barnard Castle for a test drive again the next day as his eye sight may have changed. Shame on him.

[jon1959]

Barnard Castle Eyetest.jpg

[Vindec]

After packing up the car before heading home to London, then taking the trip to Barnard Castle to see if he was safe to drive home,they went back to Durham and headed to London the next day. Any good father would have gone to Barnard Castle for a test drive again the next day as his eye sight may have changed. Shame on him.

Any good father would not have taken his child if there were doubts about eyesight. But simply visiting there (with or without his family) was against the rules as they existed at the time.

[Taunton Blue Genie]

He was selfless in reducing the number of Covid-19 cases in the London area. By three.

[Heisenberg]

Any good father would not have taken his child if there were doubts about eyesight. But simply visiting there (with or without his family) was against the rules as they existed at the time.

I thought my sarcasm was explicit. Apologies.

[ninian opinian]

Here's an eyetest for those who are considering a car journey anywhere

E41E57E7-0545-445E-95C4-42F122F8EDAB.jpg

Or

31EE9688-689F-4076-B339-6FF88425F7D1.jpg

[Croesy Blue]

Should have gone to Bernard castle is excellent

[BlueToujours]

Barnard Castle Eyetest.jpg

I was just wondering how long it took him and his mates to come up with the cover story for his visit there. Poor lads must have been up all night and that's all that they could come up with. They need to take a long hard look at themselves. Surely they could have done better. It's enough to make a competent spin doctor cry.

[jon1959]

He has clearly broken the government rules (if not the law) by driving to Durham and back to 'self isolate' - although he only knew his wife was unwell at the start of the journey (becoming sick himself overnight), that makes the breach worse!

His smokescreens and excuses are pathetic: 'threats' at his London home (no longer an issue!), his importance to government, his failure to seek family support in London and choice to put his close family and potentially nieces at risk, the 'exceptional' (but sadly very common) circumstances of having a young child in the household (who became ill after spending hours in close proximity in a car with sick parents), the private land he was out walking in on two occasions whilst 'self isolating', his failure to inform Johnson and Johnson's failure to question where he had been for 2 weeks, the day trip with wife and child to a pretty market town to check his eyesight (with a stroll and sit on riverside bench) and his turning the crisis into one of media 'misreporting' and whether he should or should not have returned to work.

Load of self-serving crap!

It looks as if the Mail, the scientists, the bishops, a hard core of Tory MPs, a lot of Tory voters as well as the opposition are totally underwhelmed by that performance, even if it has stopped other Tory MPs joining in the demands for action. He has not drawn a line. This will either continue to fester or Johnson will have to dump him. The political damage (and public health credibility crisis) is just growing.

The bells and whistles on this story don't change the basic central fact - Cummings broke the lock-down rules he had helped to design by driving to Durham and not staying at home.



https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52784152

Government advice for households where one or more members have coronavirus symptoms is simple - stay at home.

Official guidance published in March says "it is very important that individuals with symptoms that may be due to coronavirus and their household members stay at home". This still applies.

The guidance outlines ways to pass the time and obtain food and medicine.

However, it does acknowledge that it is not always straightforward when children are involved.

It says: "If you have children, keep following this advice to the best of your ability, however, we are aware that not all these measures will be possible."

The guidance has been on the government website since 12 March, before lockdown was imposed.

The day after lockdown began, 24 March, the deputy chief medical officer for England, Dr Jenny Harries, clarified who could look after a child if both parents or carers were incapacitated.

She said: "Clearly if you have adults who are unable to look after a small child, that is an exceptional circumstance.

"And if the individuals do not have access to care support - formal care support - or to family, they will be able to work through their local authority hubs."

The government says that those with no one to help with getting food, prescriptions or other essentials, could get support from NHS volunteers, or should contact their local council.

[Madassa]

I think they call it levelling up 😞

[Cyclops]

Given that his wife was poorly and that he might get poorly and there was possibly going to be a problem with an infant care,

1) If he is so vital to the nation's health, couldn't he have phoned a contact to set up child care if needed at home

2) Do you travel 270 miles - thus truly isolating oneself from the seat of government - and give yourself the problem of how to get back where he was so desperately needed.

3) If he thought through his problems and came up with that solution, God help us with the decisions re: national health that he is making.

Get rid - out of his own mouth he has admitted his incompetence.