UK officials divided over Cummings' lockdown drive
BROADCAST AND DIGITAL RESTRICTIONS~**
Broadcasters: MUST COURTESY 'SKY NEWS - SOPHY RIDGE ON SUNDAY' / 24 HOURS NEWS ACCESS ONLY, NO USE AFTER 0930GMT MAY 25, 2020 / NO RESALE / NO ARCHIVE Digital:MUST COURTESY 'SKY NEWS - SOPHY RIDGE ON SUNDAY' / 24 HOURS NEWS ACCESS ONLY, NO USE AFTER 0930GMT MAY 25, 2020 / NO RESALE / NO ARCHIVE. For Reuters customers only.
Facing the music and a sea of questions from reporters, Dominic Cummings emerged from his home on Sunday (May 24).
He's fighting for his job as Prime Minister Boris Johnson's senior adviser, after claims he flouted the government's lockdown rules.
Cummings was later seen arriving at number 10 as the row over his actions intensified.
The mastermind of the 2016 campaign to leave the EU, traveled from London to Durham in late March when his wife was displaying coronavirus symptoms.
The Daily Mirror newspaper on Saturday (May 23) reported that the advisor made a second trip from London, and was spotted near Durham on April 19th.
Cummings, who has repeatedly refused to resign, entered Downing Street on Sunday after some Conservative Party lawmakers demanded he quit.
Speaking to Sky News, MP Steve Baker was one of the first:
"If he doesn't resign, we'll just keep burning thorough Boris' political capital at a rate we can ill afford in the midst of this crisis. It's very clear that Dominic traveled when everybody else understood Dominic's slogans to mean stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives. And I think mums and dads who very much care about their children and who have been foregoing the child care of their extended family will wonder why he's been allowed to do this."
Jumping to Cummings's defence though was the country's Transport Minister Grant Shapps.
He was challenged to explain why Cummings didn't stay put when his wife started showing symptoms:
"I mean, he did once they, you know, lockdown. They sort of hunkered down and they stayed there for 14 days and..."JOURNALIST SOPHY RIDGE: "That's after they travelled 260 miles."
Opposition politicians have called for Cummings, who wields huge influence in number 10, to go.
They branded his actions hypocritical.
Johnson's office said Cummings made the journey to ensure his 4-year-old son could be properly cared for.
