The damage, real or perceived, to the Conservative government from keeping Dominic Cummings on as chief aide to the Prime Minister may yet spell the end of his time in Downing Street.
Mr Cummings made two trips by car with his wife and son, one to Durham and back and one to Barnard Castle, when the government advice he was in effect responsible for crafting was to Stay at Home. There has been wide condemnation of his actions, although the Prime Minister and others in the cabinet have given him their support. On Radio 4 this morning, Michael Gove MP continued to detail Mr Cumming’s moves and disputed that there was any breach of the regulations. He also denied that there had been any damage to the government’s public health message, and the way the public will adhere to it.
Former government minister Michael Howard also denied on BBC Breakfast that there was any problem with the fact that Mr Cummings had not apologised. He said that “if you think you’ve done the right thing, then it’s a bit difficult to apologise”.
Mr Cummings gave a statement and took questions from journalists yesterday afternoon in the Rose Garden at 10 Downing Street. This followed a statement by the Prime Minister on Sunday and at least two if not three days of media attention on the messenger, rather than the message.
This morning Conservative MP, Douglas Ross, who represents Moray and was Under Secretary of State for Scotland, has resigned from the government. He made his reasons known on Twitter.
I haven’t commented publicly on the situation with Dominic Cummings as I have waited to hear the full details. I welcome the statement to clarify matters, but there remains aspects of the explanation which I have trouble with. As a result I have resigned as a government Minister. pic.twitter.com/6yXLyMzItJ
— Douglas Ross MP (@Douglas4Moray) May 26, 2020
Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw following the resignation of Scotland Office minister Douglas Ross.“I accept Douglas’ position and respect the decision he has come to.
“This is a difficult situation for many, and people will arrive at different judgements.
“Douglas will be a huge loss to government and I thank him for all he’s done at the Scotland Office.
“I am in no doubt that he will continue to serve his Moray constituents with diligence and commitment, as he has done since first being elected.”
Ian Murray MP, Labour’s Shadow Scottish Secretary, commenting on the resignation of Douglas Ross MP from Government over the Dominic Cummings controversy, said:“Douglas was a fair and reasonable minister who has done the decent thing and resigned from a government that is out of control.
“Integrity has been sadly lacking from this government, especially over the last 72 hours, so I commend him for making this difficult decision.
“He understands that it’s not acceptable to have one rule for Boris Johnson’s closest adviser, another for everybody else.
“Douglas has shown more integrity than Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw and other UK Government ministers who have defended the indefensible and couldn’t be more out of touch with the people of Scotland and the UK.”
SNP MSP, George Adam, said: “The public have no confidence in Boris Johnson’s handling of the Dominic Cummings disaster – which has completely undermined public health messaging.
“Jackson Carlaw’s defence of Cummings was tone deaf to begin with.
“Now that the fury felt within his own party is becoming obvious, Carlaw looks even more out of touch.
“This scandal is a test of leadership which Jackson Carlaw is failing every bit as much as his boss Boris Johnson.
“It’s time for the Scottish Tories to do the right thing and back the public who’ve followed the guidance – instead of trying to curry favour with Boris Johnson.
“Jackson Carlaw must now call on the Prime Minister to sack Dominic Cummings.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
