Finally, a bank holiday weekend, for many, there were hopes of logging off Twitter and turning off the telly for the briefest of breaks. The news, however, had other plans.
On Friday evening, reports emerged alleging that top government aide Dominic Cummings had visited family 264 miles away from his London home during the early stages of lockdown. A joint reporting effort by the Mirror and The Guardian, this story sent political circles into a spin as high ranking Conservative MP’s and Cabinet members moved to defend Cummings. After allegations of a second trip emerged on Saturday, things only began to look more dangerous for the aide. Add on Boris Johnson backing Cummings wholeheartedly during Saturday’s Downing Street briefing as well as a brewing public backlash and you have a lot of strong opinions on the way.
We spoke to the members of the Empoword community to hear their thoughts on the situation and Government response.
Generally, people weren’t pleased with the handling of the situation by the Government, even if they did somewhat expect it:
Nevie G-f: It’s been handled completely in the wrong way. Of course, Boris was going to back one of his own however he is not promoting a positive message at all. We are meant to be in unity. I genuinely believe we will see a rise in people going out and not abiding by the rules: If one of Boris’ advisors hasn’t suffered any consequences, then why should anyone else?
Jane Corscadden: I’m frustrated by the Prime Minister’s response to the incident. We all knew it was likely Cummings would hold onto his job, but the level of support shown by the PM – seemingly disregarding the government’s policies on lockdown to defend his friend – is incredible. The backlash throughout social media, and even on the official Civil Service Twitter profile, shows the anger of society at the actions of Cummings. This incident also dilutes the government message. People are going to think “well if Dominic Cummings can travel to see his family, why can’t I?” It makes me really fearful over what is to come – if there’s a second wave of the virus, will people even listen to the government?
Others hoped for a firmer response:
Isabelle Raikes: I think it is astounding that the PM can stand up in front of the public and justify the actions of Dominic Cummings. He broke not one but three rules imposed by the government. Many people would love to see their family but have been abiding by these rules to reduce the spread of the virus. If everyone acted the same way as he did, we would have had double the amount of cases! It cannot be one rule for him and another for the rest of us.
Orla McAndrew: I’m so angry about it and fed up with the government’s handling of it. Everyone is finding lockdown hard, everyone WANTS to see their family but have been respecting and abiding by the rules. Why is it one rule for them and another for us? In the beginning, there was a message about us all being in the same situation but, that is now clearly not true.
Fiona Elliott: I am frustrated at the situation and astounded at Boris’ response. Whilst I can understand the worry of parents having to look after children whilst ill, you only have to look at the media & twitter to see lots of examples of parents having to cope in worse situations. I worry the impact this will have on public trust of gov and further advise they give, especially if a second wave occurs. I think his position is unattainable.
There was also a significant focus on the media’s response:
Hannah Ward-Glenton: The way in which The Guardian and Mirror saved the second half of their scoop on Cummings was journalistic genius. Leaving 24 hours between the release of the first story (that Cummings had travelled to Durham for the sake of his son’s health) and the second (allegations of him having visited the city a second time) left space to see the immediate response of MPs.
Throngs of Conservative MPs jumped to defend the advisor, and, had it been decided that Cummings’ second trip was unacceptable, those MPs would have been left in a sticky situation where they had pledged their support to somebody who had, in fact, defied the rules that he helped establish. As it stands, Johnson choosing to back his advisor ruined the paper’s grand plan, but it really had potential. Timing truly is everything.
Lauren Mcgaun: I think the media’s handling of this story has been poor as they haven’t painted a true picture of Cumming’s need for child care during the time he was isolating. On top of this, the press filming him in such close proximity goes against the social distancing they’re arguing for. This being said, however, whilst Cummings may have acted in a “responsible” way, based on his circumstances, it doesn’t set a good example to follow when he’s the one supposed to be giving out the official advice which others are having to suffer through.
April Lloyd: The handling by the media, in my opinion, was reflective of the public interest. Weeks ago, Cummings was imploring the nation to follow lockdown to the letter, and yet we have found out he broke his own rules on multiple occasions. I understand he may have been worrying about his child, but surely a 260-mile drive would increase cross exposure. I feel, because of his actions, his position is untenable.
What are your thoughts on the situation? Should Cummings stay or go? Has this become ‘fake-news’ and a media-led witch hunt? We want to hear your views.
Title image courtesy of Peter Summers/Getty Images – The Guardian. All facts correct at the time of publishing.