Reply With QuoteHis statement would absolutely 100% have mentioned it if he had informed the DVLA.Originally Posted by lisvaneblue
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I don’t even think breaking the law is the big issue (Even though he did) it’s going against rules set out by his employer (which in this case were also for the whole country) and getting away with it. If we all did something like that we’d all be sacked.
His statement would absolutely 100% have mentioned it if he had informed the DVLA.
Emily Maitlis should not be sacked. It is disappointing she has been rebuked and dropped from last night's Newsnight slot. She has come out of the last week with more credit in my mind than any other BBC journalist - some of whom (Laura K for instance) have been their usual supine selves, acting as government mouthpieces as usual. Maitlis at least tried to be a mouthpiece for public outrage.
The BBC always gets in a knot around its Charter requirements for neutrality and balance. It consistently ends up inconsistent in how it applies that (bending to the government of the day and 'establishment' voices) and too often decides that if there is any 'alternative' opinion it should have equal billing - leading to its platform for climate change deniers, conspiracy theorists and flat earthers!
The Dominic Cummings scandal is clearly in part about him, his selfish and rule-breaking decisions, and his status at the heart of government. But it is mainly about Johnson and the Cabinet's response. He is employed by Johnson not by the civil service and whether he gets the boot or not is down to his boss - even if he was to be fined by the police for a lockdown breach - which won't happen.
Boris Johnson is the story now - not Cummings. Every day he continues to excuse or endorse Cummings' actions - and sends out his minions to do the same - he undermines his own government, the main public health messages and the scientists, police and front line workers trying to put the Covid strategy into action. It is poison at the heart of government (as is Cummings). I imagine he can't function without Cummings, but I doubt he can 'move on' whilst he continues to defend the indefensible.
The headlines may fade away for a while but the damage is done - whether the special advisor is dumped or not.
If hes got bad eyesight he should be asking the opinion of an optician if his eyesight impairs his driving
Not jumping in a car and trying it out himself ff sake
Anyone defending this idiot is an embarrassment
Your lawyering is getting a bit better now, arguing semantics for semantics sake.
If the NHS weren't able to cope due to being overrun with patients who had contracted Coronavirus... that would cost lives, wouldn't it? I mean, I'm pretty sure that's what the Prime Minister wrote in his letter which was sent to everyone in the UK.
(I'm sure you'll be pedantic again instead of making a decent argument by saying that it was unlikely sent instead to everyone in the UK).
The cold, hard facts are that Dominic Cummings' own statement shows that he is guilty on at least 3 occasions of breaking the Covid laws. I'll list the ones that I've remembered.
He said that he left work one day, went home to see his wife (whom he believed to have Covid) and then returned to work again the same day. That's number one. You have to self-isolate for 14 days if you believe that someone that you live with (or have even come into contact with) has Covid symptoms.
He then drove a person with Covid symptoms 260 miles to another part of the country. He was healthy at that point, according to his statement, so there was no emergency that required him to make that trip.
He drove a 60 mile round trip to "test his eyesight." At that time, only essential journeys were permitted. Testing your eyesight by driving heavy machinery isn't an essential journey.
I don't see the point of arguing the matter any further if you don't see that those 3 instances he talked about on Monday was self-incriminating.
And it probably needs to be repeated, they were all within his own statement.
They are also trying to use the "fake stories in the media" line, but the most inaccurate accounts in the media were those written by him and his wife in the spectator.
Deliberately misleading? Some may conclude that.
The initial guardian/mirror reporting looks to be pretty accurate.
And it probably needs to be repeated, they were all within his own statement.
They are also trying to use the "fake stories in the media" line, but the most inaccurate accounts in the media were those written by him and his wife in the spectator.
Deliberately misleading? Some may conclude that.
The initial guardian/mirror reporting looks to be pretty accurate.
Matt Hancock repeatedly refuses to say whether Dominic Cummings 'did the right thing'
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...box=1590651617
"It probably needs to be repeated"
You can say that again
It is a desperate defence.
Most of the newspaper claims were confirmed by Cummings himself. The only significant one to have been dropped was the allegation (never presented as fact) that he had gone back up to Durham a week after returning to London.
The main problem with blaming 'false stories' is that Cummings had an hour in the Downing Street garden in front of the world's media to give his own version of events - and the result was that a big majority of the public became more convinced that he had broken the rules and should be sacked!
I agree with everything Emily Maitlis said, but I did think "that's a bit strong" the first time I heard it given who she is employed by and the BBC's supposed neutrality. However, I think it would only make matters worse for the Government if she was sacked I believe because you would have two widely different interpretations of the punishment "fitting the crime" in the public domain at the same time with the one only further emphasising the hypocrisy and absurdity of the other one.
Anyway, it seems the decision not to present last night's programme would appear to have been made by Emily Maitlis herself.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-52830437
'Exclusive: Dominic Cummings did breach coronavirus lockdown guidelines, Durham Police say'
Investigation concludes Boris Johnson's most senior aide did commit a 'minor breach' of the lockdown rules when he drove to Barnard Castle
He breached the guidelines but only a "minor breach" apparently. Is that now enough for the Govt. to not be able to keep parroting that "he kept to the guidelines"?Dominic Cummings did break lockdown rules when he made a 50-mile journey to Barnard Castle, an investigation by Durham Police has concluded.
The Prime Minister’s most senior aide claimed he made the trip on Easter Sunday, with his wife and four-year-old son, to check he was fit to drive after suffering coronavirus-related eyesight problems.
Mr Cummings insisted he had acted “lawfully and reasonably” at all times when he made the 260-mile journey from London to Durham to self-isolate at his parents’ farm at the end of March.
But The Telegraph has learned that an investigation by Durham Police has concluded he did commit a "minor breach" of the guidelines when he drove to Barnard Castle on April 12.
However the force, which according to the most recent data, has issued 137 fines for lockdown breaches, said it would not be taking any further action against Mr Cummings.
Minor or otherwise it begs the question who in the highest levels of government actually understands the rules they're instructing us all to keep to? None of those at the top apparently.
When I was young, people in politics used to "fall on their sword" even when they weren't really guilty of much (for example, I couldn't really see why Lord Carrington resigned as Foreign Secretary over the Falklands War), but that all changed a long time ago. Now, people cling on to their jobs for as long as they can and sometimes managed to brazen it through their crisis, but I don't think I've ever seen anything like this before. Hopefully, for the good of the country, I'm wrong, but nothing that's happened so far has been enough to get Cummings out, so I don't really see why this will alter anything.
It's a far more serious breach than Professor Ferguson's the SAGE member and modeller deemed to be essential to the COVID-19 response. All he did was stay at home while his girlfriend came around for booty call but was required to resign as a consequence. And what about Cummings returning to Downing St when he should have been self isolating? The whole thing is a farce. He should have been sacked as soon as the story broke.
This feels like a tiny 'case now closed' concession to me.
From BBC:
13:30
PM considers Cummings issue closed - No 10
Boris Johnson is standing by his top aide Dominic Cummings, following the Durham Police findings.
A No 10 spokesman said: "The police have made clear they are taking no action against Mr Cummings over his self-isolation and that going to Durham did not breach the regulations.
"The prime minister has said he believes Mr Cummings behaved reasonably and legally given all the circumstances, and he regards this issue as closed."
and
Durham Constabulary said it views "this as minor because there was no apparent breach of social distancing" during the trip.
You have to leave your car to breach regulations? That wasn't made clear in the guidelines.
Also, as much as Boris Johnson believes this matter to be over, it is very far away from being over.
Your comment about the return trip was interesting. There was a picture in the Telegraph last week of a bloke who runs and antique shop or similar in Barnards Castle and he looks just like DC.
He commented that is frequently called Dominic and until the news broke he never knew why
Still after his blood then!
Frequently?! He said that it happened once. It doesn't matter anyway as Dominic Cummings confirmed that he went to Barnard Castle.
If you think the guy on the left "looks just like DC" - maybe you need to head to Barnard Castle yourself and get your eyes tested.
I have never seen Cummings smile,scowl maybe but smile nah.Frequently?! He said that it happened once. It doesn't matter anyway as Dominic Cummings confirmed that he went to Barnard Castle.
If you think the guy on the left "looks just like DC" - maybe you need to head to Barnard Castle yourself and get your eyes tested.
Johnson stops questions about Cummings to the scientists on the grounds they are "political" - he just doesn't get it does he. This matter has gone beyond politics and goes to the heart of whether guidelines will be adhered to in the same way as they were before. There was a poll showing that 55% of Conservative voters think Cummings should go - we cannot go through this pandemic with huge numbers of people thinking that the rules do not apply to those at the top and exactly the same would apply if there was a Labour government.
Think it’ll all be forgotten by the beginning of next week and Johnson and his bunch of spivs will get away with it. He and they don’t give a f**k about rules or the man in the street. They will continue to treat us with contempt.
Please tell me when I mentioned a fair and balanced outcome. I said it will probably blow over.
Meanwhile the police have said that a minor misdemeanour took place and no further action needed
That is probably a fair and balanced outcome from UK law enforcement
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