Pressure mounts on UK PM aide to quit amid more lockdown breach claims

London, May 24

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s prime aide is going through growing strain to resign as additional allegations emerged on Sunday of him breaching the coronavirus lockdown guidelines.

Dominic Cummings, who’s Johnson’s Chief Strategy Adviser at No. 10 Downing Street, on Saturday defended a 250-mile journey to his mother and father’ residence in Durham, north-east England, as “reasonable and legal” and the UK prime minister has to this point caught by him with Downing Street reiterating the identical line.

However, Johnson now faces a revolt from inside his personal Conservative MPs over his determination to not sack Cummings as recent allegations emerged of the aide making repeated journeys in breach of the federal government’s stay-at-home steerage to curb the unfold of the lethal virus.

The ‘Observer’ and ‘Sunday Mirror’ reported that Cummings was seen within the north east of England on two extra events, after recovering from his COVID-19 signs and returning to work in London. Downing Street has branded the stories as “inaccurate”.

But backbench Tory MP and former chairman of the European Research Group (ERG) Steve Baker known as for Cummings to resign.

“The country can’t afford this nonsense, this pantomime, Dominic should go and we should move on and deal with things that matter in people’s lives,” he instructed the BBC.

Fellow Conservative MP Simon Hoare has known as for Cummings to “consider his position” and Tory MP Damian Collins has stated the federal government “would be better without him”.

Speaking to reporters exterior his residence in London on Saturday morning after the primary allegation emerged associated to a visit on the finish of March, Cummings stated he wouldn’t be resigning and had finished the “right thing”.

On Sunday, newspapers report that witnesses noticed Cummings in Barnard Castle, greater than 25 miles from Durham, on April 12.

Two days later, on April 14, he was seen in London. According to a witness, he was noticed once more in Houghall Woods close to Durham on April 19.

“Yesterday the Mirror and Guardian wrote inaccurate stories about Mr Cummings. Today they are writing more inaccurate stories including claims that Mr Cummings returned to Durham after returning to work in Downing Street on 14 April,” a Downing Street assertion stated.

“We will not waste our time answering a stream of false allegations about Mr Cummings from campaigning newspapers,” it stated.

A YouGov ballot on Saturday discovered that 68 per cent of voters suppose Cummings broke the lockdown, whereas simply 18 per cent disagreed. By a margin of 52 per cent to 28 per cent they suppose he ought to resign.

Opposition events – Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party – have written to Sir Mark Sedwill, the UK Cabinet Secretary, calling for an pressing inquiry into the allegations.

Cummings denies a breach of the coronavirus guidelines, saying he wanted childcare assist after his spouse additionally developed COVID-19 signs they usually drove to Durham to remain in a separate constructing at his mother and father’ property.

UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps needed to discipline questions on the problem on the day by day Downing Street briefing on Saturday night, when he insisted that Cummings had not damaged the principles due to a loophole that permits individuals to “safeguard” younger and outdated individuals in danger.

“I can tell you the PM provides Cummings with his full support,” he stated.

The UK Cabinet has largely rallied round Cummings, with Indian-origin Finance Minister Rishi Sunak saying: “Taking care of your wife and young child is justifiable and reasonable, trying to score political points over it isn’t.”         

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who had additionally examined positive for coronavirus final month, stated: “I know how ill coronavirus makes you. It was entirely right for Dom Cummings to find childcare for his toddler, when both he and his wife were getting ill.”

The authorities’s strict social distancing steerage expects individuals to not journey and the recommendation for anybody with coronavirus signs stays to self-isolate at residence and never depart – even for important provides – for seven days. PTI