The British government defended on Saturday 23 May a close advisor to Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings, accused of violating the rules of containment to fight the spread of the new coronavirus.
In late March, 48-year-old Cummings left his London home to go to his seventy-year-old parents in Durham, in the north-east of England, when he had symptoms of Covid-19, revealed Friday daily newspapers Daily Mirror and The Guardian. According to witnesses called by The Observer and Sunday Mirror On Sunday, Mr. Cummings was seen in Durham again on April 18, after he returned to London to work after his first trip.
In the United Kingdom, the second country to pay the heaviest toll of the pandemic with 36,675 deaths – more than 41,000 including unconfirmed cases, this affair embarrasses Prime Minister Boris Johnson, already the target of criticism over his crisis management. With the revelation of this displacement 400 km from London in full containment, calls are multiplying to demand the departure of the powerful and controversial Dominic Cummings.
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Evil genius
Brain of the campaign in 2016 for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, it is sometimes portrayed as a kind of evil genius of the Conservative leader. Faced with the controversy, a spokesman for Downing Street assured that the adviser to Boris Johnson had acted in line with the recommendations of the government. Challenging any violation of the rules, he said that Mr. Cummings had done so because he needed help with the care of his son and that he had stayed in a building separate from the property. According to this source, his sister left shopping outside for the family.
To journalists who came to question him outside his London home, Mr. Cummings said he had behaved "In a reasonable and legal manner". "Who cares about appearances? ", he said, "The question is to do what is right, not what you think".
"The British people do not expect that there will be one law for themselves and another law for Dominic Cummings", said a spokesman for the Labor Party, for whom Downing Street's response "Raises more questions than it answers".
Unanswered questions
For the leader of the Scottish separatists in the Westminster Parliament, Ian Blackford, "He must resign or be dismissed". Who knew about this decision, was the Prime Minister sanctioned and would Downing Street question the police statements?
Police confirmed that they were informed on March 31, and said they had recalled the rules in accordance with national recommendations. But Downing Street frontally contradicted these claims, explaining that"At no time did the police speak to (Dominic Cummings) or his family about this, as reported".
Despite many questions from journalists, the daily Downing Street press conference on the coronavirus failed to provide the hoped-for clarification. The recommendations include an element of " common sense "said Jenny Harries, Deputy Medical Director.
Two resounding resignations
At the time of the events, Mr. Johnson's government required people to only go out to meet their basic needs and demanded that those with symptoms not leave their homes.
"Those who seek to politicize" this case "Should look in the mirror", Foreign Minister Dominic Raab tweeted, saying the necessary explanations had been provided.
Prior to this case, the UK had two resounding resignations for breaching the confinement in force since March 23. An influential government scientific advisor, Professor Neil Fergusson, had resigned after receiving a woman, presented as his mistress, into his home. In early April, the head of Scottish health services, Catherine Calderwood, had left her post after admitting to having visited her second home twice.
