Forum Topic

Dominic Cummings

Will all future advice from the government re the Covid_19 pandemic contain the rider - except if you are one Dominic Cummings?Obfuscation has become an art form during these press briefings.

Vanessa Smith ● 2302d15 Comments

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-52786206

Anne England ● 2301d

Never mind Where's Wally? He's easy to spot these days. Where's Boris? I just missed out on the Great Plague of London but my Mum told me that the city was abandoned then by the rich and powerful. King Charles II ran away to Salisbury and then to Oxford while it was possible for others to buy licences to pass through the cordon around the city.Now we have Boris at Chequers. OK, he has had a very nasty illness and he has a new child (the fifty-fifth is that?). Robert Jenrick went off to Herefordshire, Charlie-boy is at Balmoral, while Catharine Calderwood went to Earlsferry. These are of course all very good examples of "common sense".It seems that Demonic Cummings will be in even more hot water today if it is confirmed that he made more than one journey from London to Durham. It may be that he also managed to squeeze in at least one visit to local beauty spots. The special adviser will need some very special advice.Meanwhile, in a block of flats somewhere in Brentford ......

Jim Storrar ● 2301d

Was Dominic Cumming's choice of prop:1 purely coincidental - he always stores his child's ball and bike in the boot of his car and just happened to be returning said items to their rightful place before driving off to meet his four year old child in a park somewhere or2. a deliberate distraction/shield with a not so hidden message of what a great father he is before driving off somewhere - on his own.You decide.

Anne England ● 2301d

Truble is there are plenty of people doing this who are not setting an example and, unlike Cummings and Co, are not being tested and thus have no idea whether they are infected and potentially transmitting the virus.But if you know you have it and isolate properly then at least you know that you must isolate entirely.Thing is many Key workers are almost certainly infected but still have to shop, take kids to school and possibly service elderly parents etc.I'm little fazed by those who ride bikes without masks and cough spit and clear their nostrils next to or in front of other riders like myself. It's happening all the time in Chiswick High road to the point that I now avoid the road altogether even though it has been so delightfully quiet.  And how few in the Key worker shopping hour, don't wear masks in the stores.I suppose one thing is you can isolate fully in a car or van. But Cummings is a victim of one clear fact. Everything is Unclear.

Raymond Havelock ● 2301d

Can someone answer this please? When I drive around I see banks of cameras, these I am told are number plate tracking cameras not speed. Now D Cummings car would have shown up somewhere, unless they are dummy cameras. Why are not the police checking the cameras?

Nicholas Beard ● 2300d

Also, although I'm not sure of if this is allowed, what about checking where/if his credit card was used?It is most likely that he/his wife/child would have needed to use the facilities at a service station at some point on the journey. I'm sure the date of his journey is 'out there' and perhaps service stations along the route could check their cameras.

Anne England ● 2300d

Would think ANPR cameras could prove one way or another if he did take trips out while he was visiting? The whole thing is an insult to a lot of people who have really been put through the mill for the last umpteen weeks, governments should lead by example.

Vanessa Smith ● 2300d

There was a tory MP on BBC this morning who said it was unfair on people who had made sacrifices. It came out his father had died and he could not see him. As we all know that is the reality. Probably a high percentage of us like to go out. I certainly do. So stopping in is no fun at all especially when you read this.

Nicholas Beard ● 2300d

But if you are a self isolated individual, you can go out. What about those who volunteer?  They can go out. Those who live alone? They can go out. If you are in a car alone, and you go somewhere alone, then you are isolated. If you are alone and on a bike then you are alone.And all those who have had to go shopping and therefore unable to avoid the contact risks in stores?  Very few can get deliveries online and that is even lower as age increases so the most vulnerable remain.. the most vulnerable.But sneezing and sweating cannot be contained whereas it can if in a closed vehicle.What I can't make sense of is if he and his wife were already positive with Covid19 then surely the child was as well or possibly a carrier of the virus so is moving the child to other older therefore more vulnerable family members safe or not? Or, is it safer to stay as far away in solitary isolation if possible?None of this has been made clear during the whole muddle .

Raymond Havelock ● 2300d

Raymond your last paragraph is very interesting. If I had COVID19 I would be FRIGHTENED of attempting a journey of the length involved here. As you say many questions unanswered. Also there is talk of another journey, but that is not true we are told.

Nicholas Beard ● 2300d

Well, to reply to myself - I can't imagine that not one of the 'party' needed to use the facilities at a service station either on the way to Durham or back. Or MAYBE, our Dominic and son availed themselves of The Peebol - 'the ultimate solution to needing the loo whilst out and about'. Women are advised 'To remain completely private, ladies could use (The Peebol with or without their Shewee'. The Shewee is 'made from hard solid plastic which allows you to urinate whilst standing without removing any of your clothing' so obviously necessitates getting out of the car by the side of the road. Strap line for the Shewee is 'Stand up and take control'.

Anne England ● 2300d

I think anyone who has ever gone on a long journey with small kids would know they want to pee frequently, doubt I'd want to travel that far without stopping either. In fact most advice would be to take a break for safety's sake.

Vanessa Smith ● 2300d

Virus infected droplets flying all over the place to and from Durham, petrol stations, bluebell woods etc etc.  How long do these droplets remain to infect we innocents?

Jennifer Selig ● 2300d

Just read the Dutch PM did not visit his dying mother because of lockdown restrictions. Different to ah???

Nicholas Beard ● 2299d

A solicitor on Twitter said yesterday that he once had a defendant whose defence was that his (non-existent) identical twin had done the crime. He thought that was still more plausible than Cummings's excuse for driving to Barnard Castle.

Susan Kelly ● 2299d