[Closed] Dominic Cummings !

I’m hearing that Starmer is having to lie low because the press know Stephen Kinnock was been playing the same game.

If thats true, the best thing he could do is fire Kinnock immediate and set the precedent.

Kryton. Agree.

NeilOxfords amazing document below shows CV cases/100000 population per day.

When Cummings took his kid to Hospital in Durham it shows County Durham was at it peak.

One of the whole points about not travelling to second homes was not overwhelming healthcare if you got sick. That is EXACTLY what happened. His CV riddled wife took a child to hospital.

[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49937937797_83d9046351_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49937937797_83d9046351_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2j5QZ6x ]Screenshot 2020-05-26 at 11.30.18[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/76248110@N06/ ]danthomassw13[/url], on Flickr

I’m hearing that Starmer is having to lie low because the press know Stephen Kinnock was been playing the same game.

Kinnock is positive for covid?

If thats true, the best thing he could do is fire Kinnock immediate and set the precedent.

Kinnock doesn't work for him so that would be tricky.

Looks like the government message is reaching the Epsilons.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/coronavirus-lockdown-wales-gwynedd-beach-england-boris-johnson-a9531271.html

Only the Torygraph seems to be floating the poo of a story so far, naming

Stephen Kinnock seeing elderly parents (providing care for vulnerable ?).
Kevan Jones going to a birthday party.
Vaugh Gething picnic in park when picnics in parks were verboten.

Plus the sob story about Cummings uncle dying while Cummings was "isolating" in Durham (and not london).

It's been mooted that KS is lying low because the Tories are making a fine enough fist of cocking it up as it is. No point sticking his oar in and giving the Tory press opportunity to deflect attention to him when BJ/DC are causing enough of a car crash.

Starmer is hosting a meeting of opposition parties this morning.

I think he is also busy " not interrupting an enemy while they are making a mistake"

I have no doubt all all he will use this opportunity well. He is a barrister - this sort of thing is what they do. Unpicking holes in stories and skewering liars

Cummings has broken the rules for his own convenience, lied about it, and is getting away with it

Spot on kcr, this is pretty much the start middle and finish of this story. Most of the outrage has turned into parody, comedy and satire, it's already running out of steam. Most folk understand, there's one rule for them and another for us, It's rarely as blatant at this, but it's still true. This has run it's course.

Jens Wiechers, a data scientist, put Cummings’ blog post mentioning coronaviruses through the Wayback Machine – a digital archive – and found that the relevant paragraphs had been added on 14 April – the day Cummings returned to work after the trip to Durham.

Cummings narcissism extends to rewriting the internet. I thought he had smart mates who knew how this stuff worked.

Did the Civil Service I'm Spartacus moment happen yet over the short-lived but insightful twitter post? I see JK Rowling is offering to 'cover personal damages'.

nickc - its not run its course yet by any means - it will continue for weeks.

Another tory MP has come out and said "Cummings should be sacked" the tories in Scotland are running really scared of this as it makes their attacks on Sturgeon look even more hypocritical and many of them are on shoogly pegs.

Conservative home chair is calling for Cummings to resign - this is a real fan of Cummings and an arch brexiteer who chairs it.

Polls are showing a huge negative effect.

Edit - the letter writing to tory MPs is having a huge effect

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-52802057
Tory resignations begin….

This MP resigns over something that happened in the "south"? (Durham is north east but ...)
What is he going to do now?
He must be so rich or he must have something in the pipeline to suddenly resign during this uncertain time. A 2nd or 3rd job (footie referee) or living on wife's income? (wife must be very rich)

The reason I ask these practical questions is because I cannot afford to resign so young as I wish, I always wonder these people must be very rich or have some very strong safety nets.

At 37 year old isn't this the prime of one's career?
Another question is that he must be a rich 37 year old?
He joined the council at 27 year old within 10 years became an MP.

I have always been suspicious of politicians regardless so this MP's weird action makes me think more ...

Oh ya, for those splinters Tories please throw you name into the hat. Let the public decide.

I got a bland reply from my well and truly whipped local MP (John Lamont). Despite the content of my email and the explicit questions I asked of him, he has helpfully pointed out that the only thing that I am everyone else in the country is actually angry and frustrated about is the fact that "the focus of the government has been pulled away from the important task of keeping local communities safe and defeating coronavirus". He wants to put the matter behind us. Ahh, how nice.

So apparently I am not furious about Dominic Cummings lying over and over again. I am not angry of the sacrifices and stress my family went through whilst I was in hospital and my wife was at home with three kids, terrified that she too would get ill with no local support for childcare. I am not cross about hypocrisy, No, I am not cross about Boris not being in charge of his own adviser. I do not deserve answers about explicit lock down questions and I certainly am wrong about British people being patronised by a Government that applies different rules to its own. I do not deserve to know if my MP supports Cummings/BoJo stance. How silly of me to be mistaken with my anger. He has corrected me to point out that I am just angry that the Government has been distracted by this. Silly pleb that I am.

Spineless.

jeez, chewy is lockdown getting to you?

chewkw
Member

> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-52802057
Tory resignations begin….

This MP resigns over something that happened in the “south”? (Durham is north east but …)
What is he going to do now?

*Sigh* He's still an MP. He resigned from his post as a Scottish Office minister.

Just had my mate asking if I want to go for a ride in the sunshine tonight. Said there was no risk of transmission and if 'cummings can do what he wants he can't imagine anyone would have an issue with it'..

People will catch cornonavirus because of that man's actions and lack of remorse. And some of them will die from it.

Absolute xxx of a man.

*Sigh* He’s still an MP. He resigned from his post as a Scottish Office minister.

Thanks for the clarification. That makes sense.
He should resign from the Conservative party altogether then let the people elect again in that constituency.

p/s: I don't know anything much about Scotland and don't wish to know about them. Scotland can go and do as they wish as far as I know. But this case is linked to the South so I asked. When the title of the news says he resigned I thought he resigned as an MP.

When politics is concerned Chew loses his ability to do nuance and critical thinking it’s all rather sad (bigly so).

Yes, because I have a very low opinion (very) for all politicians regardless.

Just had my mate asking if I want to go for a ride in the sunshine tonight. Said there was no risk of transmission and if ‘cummings can do what he wants he can’t imagine anyone would have an issue with it’..

You can meet with one other for a socially distanced ride, even if you aren’t DC.

franksinatra - write back. You must ask for your specific questions to be answered and keep asking until they are.

I wrote to Anthony Magnall and asked for my views to be represented, he responded that he shared many of my concerns and has raised them. We live in the middle of an elderly community down here constantly at risk from tourism and 2nd homers. He knows that and feels the anger.

They need to know that this is not going to go away, despite the likes of that newt faced coke sniffer on breakfast TV this morning. It goes away if we let it go away.

At least most people are getting a reply from their MP's that discusses the problem at hand.

The Penrith and Borders MP Neil Hudson has an automatic reply that states due to the scale of emails he is receiving at the moment he is only addressing constituency matters.

No backbone whatsoever and just goes to prove this man will never represent the people of the region he has been dropped in to and will only ever look after his own personal interests.

I live ten minutes further away from Barnard Castle than Durham is but I would never have dreamed of heading there on the 12th of April when we were in full lockdown mode.

I wrote to Anthony Magnall and asked for my views to be represented, he responded that he shared many of my concerns and has raised them

You know that's a cut and paste response from Tory central office, right?

https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/26/cummings-contempt-lockdown-rules-public-catholic-church-ireland

interests.

I live ten minutes further away from Barnard Castle than Durham is but I would never have dreamed of heading there on the 12th of April when we were in full lockdown mode.

Even if you needed to check your eyesight?

I think he is also busy ” not interrupting an enemy while they are making a mistake”

Very much so. I know it’s not the same but if I’m interviewing someone and they’re digging themselves a massive hole I keep my mouth tightly shut and let them dig.

This has run it’s course.

I don't think it has run its course, but Cummings & Co are attempting to diffuse it with a confusing mix of lies and shade. More "coincidences" and invented conspiracies just help them.

There are specific statements by Cummings that suggest he is lying, or has committed specific breaches of the rules. I hope the press and his opponents continue to pursue these.

For example, he stated yesterday that neither he nor his wife had specific Coronovirus symptoms when they left London. Despite his claim he was interpreting the rules correctly, I cannot see how non essential travel because you "thought you might get Coronavirus" is anything other than a breach.

He should resign from the Conservative party altogether then let the people elect again in that constituency.

Why should he do that? He has resigned from the government, probably in part to appease the people locally who voted for him, the message couldn't be clearer, he can't serve BoJo while Cummings is running things

Cant stop being annoyed about him altering his blog

yes he desperately needs to be seen as smarter than he really is

but he only squeezed it in when asked about his wider failures in the pandemic

he wrote it day after getting back & while Johnson was in ITU,

I think he was building a defence

he KNEW his herd immunity (something he HAD mentioned in a blog before) plan had been a terrible mistake

what a snake

he stated yesterday that neither he nor his wife had specific Coronovirus symptoms when they left London.

hold up, wasn't he too ill to get out of bed?

he still broken lockdown by going 250 miles, let's not get distracted

he KNEW his herd immunity (something he HAD mentioned in a blog before) plan had been a terrible mistake

I think the idea of sacrificing a big old bunch of people doesn't go down to well with most of us.

I guess as a functional psychopath, that is unlikely to have occurred to him.

, probably in part to appease the people locally who voted for him,

There are scottish elections next May. The tories know how badly this will play out in scotland. Some of them are frantically trying to distance the tories in Scotland from westminster

I don't think it'll die anytime soon, no (serious) journalist is buying it

The only ones coming out to bat for him are those pair of ****s Tom harwood and Darren Grimes also Guido and the usual right wingers

hold up, wasn’t he too ill to get out of bed?

This is part of the obfuscation. Various stories were allowed to circulate prior to the press conference suggesting that either he or his wife (or both) actually had CV and went north to isolate. Obviously driving north while in the throes of illness with a car full of CV is a clear breach, so he is now stating his wife was "ill" (but specifically not with CV symptoms) and he thought he "might" get ill.
If that is actually true, he should not have left London. Non essential travel because you think you "might" get ill is not permitted. He and his family (despite his claims to the contrary) were not in immediate danger. His behaviour was a breach.

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@franksinatra Lamont has already been mentioned as a Ross replacement.

he still broken lockdown by going 250 miles, let’s not get distracted

Indeed. It seems to be the approach that if you repeat something enough, people will eventually begin to believe it.

There have been no exceptional circumstances given that warranted their travel to the other end of the country. Their circumstances were no different to anybody else's.

I don’t think it’ll die anytime soon, no (serious) journalist is buying it

Theres too much to play with. Such as Blo Hards clear desperate dependency. Or the country being run by an unelected bureaucrat.

This mornings Metro went in for slurring them as the “Elite” which is simply a statement of fact.

And Gove is actually saying Cummings was 'wise' to go for a car based eye exam...
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-pm-banks-on-easing-lockdown-to-deflect-from-cummings-controversy-11994654
They're properly just taking the piss now.

They’re properly just taking the piss now.

I can't work out if Gove is really intelligent and playing all this to some sort of master plan or if he's one of the thickest people in the entire world.

Either way, he's got a face I could literally never get tired of punching.

This mornings Metro went in for slurring them as the “Elite” which is simply a statement of fact.

Well, that was a major part of yesterday’s nonsense… DC kept making it clear that he and the PM were too busy and too important to be expected to follow the rules, or be honest about their actions.

One thing's for sure.

I'm going for a ride later on and I am going to ride all the cheeky stuff I have been gagging to ride for weeks.

Any aggro from miserable dog walking gammons is going to be met with "Rules don't apply anywhere any more. Moan about it to Dominic Cummings if you like".

I may chuck in a cheerful "**** off" for added amusement.

“Rules don’t apply anywhere any more. Moan about it to Dominic Cummings if you like”.

I may chuck in a cheerful “**** off” for added amusement.

Congratulations for lowering yourself to his standard.

I have very low expectations of this particular bunch of Tory's - let's be brutally frank about this, they're nothing but a bunch of nodding Brexiteer dogs

But I can't be the only one who's truly gobsmacked at the haste they all rushed to essentially debase themselves by rushing to Cummings defence, before at least getting some facts first. I actually feel embarrassed for them. It's genuinely humiliating to display such a glaringly obvious spinelessness

One that stands out, in particular, is Suella Braverman. She's the attorney general FFS, which is meant to suggest a degree of legal impartiality. Did she not read the brief? She surely can't expect anyone to take her seriously in that role after the last couple of days?

I'd read the stuff implied in the press that she was as thick as mince, but reserved judgement on it thinking that there might be a degree of nastiness as she's female and the wrong colour.

Well... the Jury is certainly no longer out on that one

He must be so rich or he must have something in the pipeline to suddenly resign during this uncertain time. A 2nd or 3rd job (footie referee) or living on wife’s income? (wife must be very rich)

@chewkw - when a minister resigns they don't become unemployed. They continue as an MP on their £82k pa. salary (plus expenses, staff etc). They do forfeit their ministerial allowance which for a junior minister is something like £24k on top of that - but I think he might still get paid it for the next three months anyway (not sure if that applies if he resigns, or only if fired). Not everyone, not even every tory, thinks with their wallet first.

There are scottish elections next May. The tories know how badly this will play out in Scotland. Some of them are frantically trying to distance the tories in Scotland from Westminster

Given that, I don't understand why Carlaw hasn't been much more critical of Cummings. He could play the, "its a matter for the Westminster party, but I think it is unhelpful and he should do the right thing and go" card, much like UK govt ministers did over Scotland's CMO. I'm not sure seemingly condoning the issue (both the travel and the response) does anything to boost the Union in Scotland - it surely just makes more people think "we would be better off away from them?" I think its just possible the Douglas Ross is actually astonished/ashamed/astounded and has acted accordingly - rather than to try and get re-elected in the future.

Well… the Jury is certainly no longer out on that one

When she was taking the lead for the ERG she made a lot of media appearances… she never came across as having thought through any of her responses… just repeating key phrases as if her string was being pulled.

https://twitter.com/Mark_J_Harper/status/1265259522462973952?s=19

Congratulations for lowering yourself to his standard.

Not really. I don't have an active case of covid-19 in my household. I am not driving to another part of the country and I am allowed unlimited exercise.

If you want to try to draw a parallel between rules around public health that were breached by Cummings and a few crappy no cycling signs you could try, but that'll make you look even more daft.

Besides, my eyesight is a bit dodgy today, so a bike ride is the only possible way I can test if I am safe to ride a bike. I'm suffering from a rare form of astigmatism that makes small signs unreadable.

Reply from my MP, not what you’d call a vote of confidence for Cumbag;

I listened to his explanation of his actions. Whilst one might have some sympathy with his motives and his concern for his family, I am angry that so many have sacrificed so much for public safety and yet this man has decided his interpretation of “doing the right thing“ overrode the clear instruction of Stay at Home. It is clear to me that Mr Cummings has broken some of the guidelines which we all were instructed to follow.

I have always tried to do the best thing for Wimbledon and whilst I think it would be served by Mr Cummings leaving his role, I accept that is the Prime Minister’s decision who he employs as a Special Adviser. I have made my concerns and the anger of my constituents very clear to the Whips and colleagues in the Cabinet and asked that they pass them to the Prime Minister.

We probably shouldn't expect anything less from the Brexit government who lied and played with words like sophists during the Leave campaign. Like Trump, if you get caught lying you just deny it was a lie in the first place and never apologise. Black becomes white and up is down. My truth is better than your truth. There are no principles only a culture war where my team is always right.

Utterly depressing. Perhaps we deserve these bums?

Poly - Carlaw is absolutely skewered by this. Both an utter toady to Downing street and used Calderwood to castigate the Scottish Government and Sturgeon in particular. Thus nothing they can do will avoid the stench of hypocrisy unless they call for the dismissal.

The Scots tories realise this leaves them in a terrible position.

A key part of the FoD MP’s email there is the lack of an apology for the day trip Cummings made with his family. A simple, “in hindsight, we shouldn’t have done that, sorry”, would have meant the argument could still be made for people sticking to any ongoing and new instructions from the government about public health measures, and would pacify a lot of Conservative voters upset about the “one rule for us, another for them” approach surrounding this story. Just a simple apology was needed to keep existing supporters on side (that wouldn’t be enough for many of the rest of us, but would make it MUCH easier for Tory MPs to deal with Cummings staying). The “no regrets, I did nothing wrong” approach is so hard to defend… it’s telling everyone else they got it wrong by staying put, not visiting relatives, not escaping London, not going out for birthday day trips at the peak of the ‘lockdown’ measures.

nickc
Subscriber
I wrote to Anthony Magnall and asked for my views to be represented, he responded that he shared many of my concerns and has raised them

You know that’s a cut and paste response from Tory central office, right?

I don't think so because I tabled specific concerns about my mother's terminal cancer which were addressed directly in the response to me.

NSFW:

@mehr @kelvin Of note is that Harper is a former chief whip.

@kilo The man Hammond by any chance?

I’ve not had a reply from my MP; by all accounts he was a useless tosser when he was a councillor so why I am surprised…

Like Trump, if you get caught lying you just deny it was a lie in the first place and never apologise. Black becomes white and up is down. My truth is better than your truth. There are no principles only a culture war where my team is always right.

Indeed. If you've not watched the Adam Curtis documentary Hypernormalisation, then that explains how we've been gradually conditioned over the last few decades to find acceptable all manner of shit.
Its well worth a viewing. Unsurprisingly, Trump figures prominently

Hypernormalisation on iplayer

I wrote an email to my MP, Bill Wiggin on Saturday. I have yet to receive any response, not even an automated one. I can only assume that it wasn't important enough or perhaps he is continuing to sit on the fence for a day or two till he sees the way the land lies.

No response from my MP. He's too young to have built up a sufficient profile (or probably wad of cash) to be able to have principles.

Particularly ironic that he is a Minister of State for health and supposedly a clever man (Oxford graduate). My last email was just a polite way of saying "You're an intelligent man, you don't really buy this shit, do you?"

I'll be sending another one later with a slightly different slant, see if I can hit a nerve.

@kilo The man Hammond by any chance?

Yes, as he’s already been laid off once before by the lunatic fringe I suspect he’s not much of a fan.

Carlaw has apparently now come out and said Cummings must go.

MP, Bill Wiggin on Saturday

That’ll be 20,000+ majority Wiggin would it? I’ve written to him numerous times - mainly in support of the Hands Off Our Forest campaign a few years ago. He is a typical tory shit. Vote entirely down party lines and answered my letters with just enough insouciance to be properly irritating.

However this has not stopped me writing to him again, reminding him that as a constituent, I deserve more than a cut and paste reply.

I expect a cut and paste reply 😉 Democracy at its finest.

ratherbeintobago

Where have you seen that? The only thing I have seen was backing Johnson over it in a very lukewarm manner

I don’t think so because...

@DavidB sorry to hear about your mum, hope his response isn't a cut & paste, I've seen those words reprinted a couple of times now on emails from Tory MPs.

@tjagain STV politics editor on Twitter

Can you embed Tweets on here and if so, how?

Ta

@tjagain Now being reported by BBC Scotland too.

Can you embed Tweets on here and if so, how?

On twitter, click the share tweet button, then the 'copy link to tweet' button, then paste in here.

Given that, I don’t understand why Carlaw hasn’t been much more critical of Cummings. He could play the, “its a matter for the Westminster party, but I think it is unhelpful and he should do the right thing and go” card, much like UK govt ministers did over Scotland’s CMO.

Wow, is Carlaw a closet STW reader...

https://twitter.com/BBCandrewkerr/status/1265270712543121408

@ratherbeintobago just post the link and it embeds

https://twitter.com/STVColin/status/1265269496564142081?s=19

I got an automated, 'Im really busy with important covid stuff' from my spineless MP

To be fair he did reply when I emailed about proroguing parliament

but his reply was gibberish & I simply chucked it in the recycling

I do wish I had replied to it after the High court judgement though

Scots Tories bricking it over this

Election next year, a sweeping victory for the SNP will pile on pressure for indyref 2

In December we were one of the constituencies in the north that went from red to blue (by a tiny majority). We lost a brilliant MP in James Frith and gained a Tory, James Daly.

I haven't written to him myself. There seems little point.

I'm reading on the local social media that he seems to have opted to self-isolate from his new constituents. A lot of people, rightly angry, are using all avenues to try and contact him regarding the Cummings matter, but he isn't replying to any of them. He hasn't issued any statements and appears to be in hiding. Maybe he's gone for a drive to a castle?

Absolutely nobody is surprised.

People are now posting up all the letters, emails, tweets and messages they've sent to him, none of which have received a response.

No response in 3 days from my MP either, not even a holding one.

I almost hope Cummings stays as focus of voter anger the next election.

James Frith was on a recent podcast, either Remainiacs or The Bunker, and came across really well. A sad loss. Particularly when I think that my parents in law voted for the Tory

No point in contacting my mp alister jack, as he's so far ensconced up johnsons arse that he has taken root as a polyp

From my local (Conservative) MP Mark Pawsey (Rugby and Bulkington)

A letter to the many constituents who have contacted me about Dominic Cummings will be sent out today and the text is now on my website. Mr Cummings has acted against the spirit of the lockdown and the Prime Minister should now ask for his resignation.

Actually improved my opinion of him.

Kimbers
It's high stakes for the Scots tories for sure. Johnson and Cummings have give the SNP a gift

No response from my MP mogg yet.....

No point in contacting my mp alister jack, as he’s so far ensconced up johnsons arse that he has taken root as a polyp

You can't beat my MP when it comes to Tory boy top trumps. I have the T Rex/Superman/Ferrari testarossa of the pack:

Nigel Evans:

Obsequiousness - 9
Hypocrisy - 9
Bigotry - 10
Sleaze - 10
Voting Record - 10
Expenses claims - 10
Unctuosness - 9 ( obviously Gove is the top trump in this category)

 

I almost hope Cummings stays as focus of voter anger the next election.

Pah, not enough of the electorate will even remember this let alone think "I'm not voting for those lying shits".

They've won, they figured out that your average voter can just about remember what happened on Eastenders a day before and have cynically reinforced that with selective targeting.

These people don't watch the news, they don't listen to the news. They change the channel and watch D-list nobodies eating centipedes or chavs ranting and raving that they are the new Whitney Houston when they've just screeched like a set of contaminated brakes for a minute.

They get their 'news' from their social media accounts when they are scrolling past to see which of their mates have updated their status from 'in the queue at the chippy' to 'currently paying at the chippy' to 'walking home from the chippy'.

And they are being played selective 'news' that is actually their own prejudices played back to them as 'fact'. No balance. No need to stick at it for more than 30 seconds. No need to step back and think.....

"I wonder, have they really got Brexit don........oh look, Shaz has just updated her status to 'eating chips with a can of Stella' good old Shaz. Now where was I? Oh look, a bus with a slogan"....Etc.

Have to say I'm impressed with the tories that are making a stand- especially considering the monolithic, don't even accept that there's a problem response from the top brass.

Hows our bet looking TJ? Still confident?

I'm convinced that he'll still be firmly in place by the end of the week. They've put everything on the line for the little shit because they're lost without him. They have a leader with no interest in detail and a cabinet comprised of a bunch of nodding dogs who couldn't find their own arses using both hands.

They've essentially outsourced policy-making to him

I'm looking forward to my supply run to Greenhalgh's 😀

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