The Cummings Effect - are people rebelling?

why do some posters write 'essays'

Just missed a word, I cannot SEE that everyone....
Also in reply to Nanniejcl, this man got so much stick because of the position he is in, he wrote the rules, and no matter how hard, he should set the exampl to the rest of us as to how to follow them, no matter how hard for him. He also broke the rules by driving to the hospital to collect wife and child when transport could so easily have been arranged, and also, his story of driving thirty miles to test his eyesight, really! Does anyone ever do that, he could have killed someone if his eyesight was playing up, how dare he take that chance.

I was most horrified at reports that, after running from Downing Street to get home to his wife who had become ill with suspected C-19, Cummings returned to his workplace that same day.

I totally agree with Lexisgranny, Orangerose and many others; my actions will impact on family and friends, so I will continue to do what seems to be for the benefit of us all. The rules and guidelines have been imposed upon us for our protection, so why would I want to follow the actions of someone who needed to act in a different way?

So true Venus. Doesn’t make sense but you did make me laugh!

LilyH i dont know if the jab did cause some people some problems,but i just had a bit of a sore arm a few days,as did my two sons,but this virus isn't just flu, is it? And the pro's will definitely outweigh the cons for having it or not and so i for one will definitely be welcoming a vaccine for covid19 when its available, for all of us- in fact it should be made compulsory, as it wont die out otherwise. I think covid19 is a disease that makes you far more ill than a jab would?!

Yes I agree with you Lexisgranny. I am very angry that DC has got away with breaking the rules especially as others have been fined and also that he didn’t even say sorry. However why put yourself and others at risk by now breaking the rules just out of spite. My anger won’t make me put others at risk and the fear of catching the virus myself. But I do hope eventually he will get his “come uppance” It is so utterly unfair.

I find the rules ridiculous in that you can have cleaning people in your abode but not your family, so if I give my son a duster, he can come in!

So hopefully those who have breached guidelines and have been in close contact for more than 15 minutes with someone from outside their bubble will be phoned up and asked (instructed) to self isolates for 14 days if their contact gets a positive test result. Somehow, I cannot that everyone will do this unless there is a significant penalty slapped on them if they break their quarantine "instruction". I think it should be an order, not an instruction, as by association, to get that phone call, means that you have already broken the social distance laws so you really need to get the message that you CANNOT leave the house. It is not open to interpretation or instinct. When will people get that!

I think many people broke the lockdown rules for their own reasons but none have been harassed like this man.So much hate & vitriolic media reporting,it’s disgusting.......we need the opposition parties to get behind the government so that we can get through this instead of all the sniping & political point scoring!!

Like many others I don't make decisions based on what Cummings or any so called celebrities do
As far as I can see the "Cummings" effect is the strategy employed by his many opponents to get rid of him. The joke is that the "honourable" member, Douglas Ross who resigned on a point of principle himself travelled from London to his constituency in Ross (about 600 miles) after lockdown and after a month decided to return to London because the "internet was playing up". The SNP motor mouth Ian Blackford also travelled to his Skye estate after lockdown. The MSM only print what they want you to believe and the taxpayer funded BBC is one of the worst

The whole point is that if people, "break the rules" as so many sheeple insist he did, in the same way D.C. did, i.e. making sure that they don't come into contact with with others, keeping strict social distances at all times, etc., then it will have no effect whatsoever on the spread of this dreadful disease.

How can you possibly know that DC acted like that, NoddingGanGan? All that we know is that he said that he and the family isolated once they got to Durham. From a man who has told so many lies during this sorry episode there seems to be no reason to believe him.

You give yourself away when you start on your absurd claim that it's all a Remainer plot. Before talking about 'sheeple' you should take a look at yourself...

I didn’t think Amber Rudd was still an M.P. Jaycee so I suppose her opinion doesn’t really count.

It would appear that in parts of England people have been ignoring the lockdown long before Cummings' misdemeanour. One assumes that adults are capable of making their own decisions and are able to consider their course of action. Dominic Cummings was irresponsible but many people will be using his example as an excuse the ignore the lockdown. When there is a second wave of the pandemic, I hope their visits to the seaside were worth another lockdown.

Sorry, NoddingGanGan, you lost me at 'sheeple'. That patronising and frankly offensive attitude is exactly what many of us are objecting to.

I really don’t worry about what other people do,I do things to keep myself & my husband safe.I would never dream of doing something just because someone else had.Its up to us all to be sensible but I will say that if I had been in Mr Cummings situation & I was worried about my child I would have done the same,the continual harassment he had been getting from the media must have been scary for a little 4 year old with autism.Most people’s instinct is to be near family when something awful happens,we all need support .We are all sensible people & will do what we think is right at the time.If any of my children had been ill I would have looked after my grandchildren anyway.

This reminds me of Jacob Rees Moggs comments on Grenfell....that his common sense would have made him ignore instructions to stay put.

You are absolutely right. I hadn't made that link, but it is a valid one, and sums up the way that this sort of attitude is endemic in this government, not simply a 'misunderstanding' of what has conveniently shifted from 'rules' to 'guidance'.

Leyburn, theres been no one actually said Cummings child is autistic or disabled, as far as i know?- anyhow how would that make a difference, in his case? As a four year old cant be expected to care for himself, even if not- BUT, i dont expect Cummings to stoop even lower by 'playing the disability card' and he would not surprise me if he did tbh..hes made one excuse after another, and if he had at least said why he'd done it but that hes now sorry it might have gone a long way- he could have easily got help for his child if he was getting ill by ringing Number 10 & explaining his situation im sure- as hes so 'thick' with Boris- its an ouright lie & excuse to flout the rules and now what are you saying then? That its down to the vulnerable ones to stay in for the rest of their life like hermits just keep safe, just because others cant be bothered trying to keep from spreading the virus now???

Does anyone else wonder if the annual Flu jab caused any problems, I have seen a lot of people around here who have been quite poorly after having had it. I know you usually get some symptoms after it, but this last winter it seemed to be bad and as most of those receiving the jab were elderly or infirm in some way, they are also the people that have suffered a lot with this virus.

The whole point is that if people, "break the rules" as so many sheeple insist he did, in the same way D.C. did, i.e. making sure that they don't come into contact with with others, keeping strict social distances at all times, etc., then it will have no effect whatsoever on the spread of this dreadful disease.
If, on the other hand, people take the attitude that, "if he can do what he wants, so can I" , and start crowding in places with never a thought of who they may be next to or how far away they are from them, like the reporters on D. C. 's doorstep then yes, look out for the second spike in a week because, never mind the rights and wrongs of anyone's behaviour, that is the sort of behaviour that causes this infernal disease to spread.
Anyone with half a brain could see that there were areas of the "rules" that were open to sensible and mindful interpretation according to circumstances. D. C. 's biggest mistake was in presuming everyone possesses the level intelligence to realise that.
It was made evident that this isn't the case when the first set of measures for easing the lockdown were announced, resulting in the flood of posts on all kinds of social media saying, "it's not clear!" meaning, "we don't understand!" Funny, I wonder how many of the same people are the ones now saying, "he broke the rules; the rules say this, that the other; the exceptions were only for anyone suffering abuse, etc. etc." Make up your minds, either he wrote the rules and therefore knows that he didn't break them, or he doesn't understand them and therefore can't have written them in which case he's no more culpable than the next Stephen Kinnock!
The bottom line is, whatever he's done or hasn't done, nobody was put in any more danger than they would have been had they stayed in London. Fewer people were exposed to COVID-19 than if he'd got someone to come into his London home to be on standby, whether hired (which most definitely was "against the rules" at the time) or family. Let's not forget Harry Day's now famous observation:
"Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men."
Yes, he was cavalier of the feelings of others and should apologise and pay a fine like everyone else.
Yes, I'm annoyed at him for not being man enough to say his jaunt to Barnard Castle had no real justifucation and I'm sorry I went. But I'm more annoyed at the manipulation of the British public by the media and at the British public for allowing themselves to be led by the nose. It's plainly obvious to anyone with a modicum of intelligence that this is being orchestrated by Remainers (as most of the media are) and, whether you are pro or anti EU, the fact remains that many traditional Labour voters lent their votes to Boris Johnson on the promise that he would "get Brexit done", and, in doing so, handed the government a clear and resounding mandate to do just that on their behalf.
If Brexit fails as a result of the baying mob, and it's far more likely to happen if D.C. is ousted from his post, then the left will have delivered the biggest betrayal of the British electorate that I certainly will have ever seen and that will outweigh any supposed betrayal by D. C. over Easter.

The idea that everyone has stringently been following the rules since the beginning of lockdown is not true, and many have quietly reinterpreted the rules to suit themselves.
Home-schooling grandmas, dog walking trips where family is 'accidentally' encountered, shopping delivered miles way to facilitate more accidental encounters; self-isolating wife whose husband is not allowed out so has 'games' evenings in their isolated house.

Their choice; I don't meet any of them and they all consider they observe social distancing and are no risk to anybody else. With the easing of lockdown of course people are less restricted, and we can't live in isolation indefinitely; many people are suffering serious deprivation from job loss and income.
It is rather like those who fear vaccination; everyone else should be vaccinated for my protection.

Sadly I think the whole Cummings affair will make people inclined to break the rules. My DD has been struggling the last couple of weeks dealing with her isolation which hasn't been helped by having car trouble to deal with when she needed to go out for legitimate reasons. She's been particularly frustrated by the regulations being relaxed in England while she lives in Scotland where things are still stricter. Of all the people I know she has been one of the most strict to observe the rules and tell me to as well, but now she is looking for loopholes. People who were tempted before are surely going to relax more now, as Boris has backed Cummings so completely.
Last night I was out doing a bit of gardening and it sounded as if my next door neighbours had friends round in their garden. There were too many voices for the normal family of 4! I can't see into their garden so I don't know who was there or how many people but I did find it slightly worrying. They haven't done this before. Only time will tell if this is the start of more to come.
I shall still stick to the rules myself, hard as it may be, as I want to be around to see my first grandchild born later thiis year. I won't be putting myself or any of my family at risk, but sadly I think some people will.

Your question is are people rebelling....I think people were, a while before the Cummings fuss...and may use it in their heads as an excuse to continue...But those that aren’t, will I think, continue to adhere to the guidance no matter what. So I think it’ll blow over once the media find another good story. Pathetic really.

Ive been at home since November. To be honest I am now fed up of it. I have had a friend pop to see me, we sat on my front drive her by the wall and me a good 2 meters away. We now use my garden which has a side gate. I see my Son and his wife at a distance and saw the other one last weekend for the time time in weeks as he needed something repaired at home (which was done in the garden). I sat one side, his wife in the conservatory, my son at the other end of the garden and my partner doing the repair. We kept apart. Took our own imsulated drink cups. We used the toilet in the campervan. I long to go out shopping, pop to the garden centre, stop wiping anything and everything that comes into the house, antibacing the door bell and letterbox and constantly washing my hands. BUT I want to survive and stay safe. I do not respect BJ and DC and I hope that I am using my own common sense to keep myself and all those around me safe. Sorry just had to have a bit of a rant.

Leyburn, is there any evidence that the child has autism? It seems to be a rumour started by one tweet from someone, now deleted.

As for Brexit, I think that's a complete misreading of the situation. I was a Remainer but that ship has sailed. We're going to have to grit our teeth and go through whatever follows, which is going be a double whammy combined with the financial repercussions of the lockdown. Well, there is no avoiding it. If Dominic Cummings was sacked tomorrow, it would make no difference to Brexit.

The Cummings Effect is, of course, the problem. As I have tried to point out all along, for the lockdown to work we all have to consent to change the way we live, for the sake of other people. Without consent, how can it work in a democracy? What would they do if we didn't consent? Declare martial law?

So we need to believe that everything is fair and transparent. When a rule-maker becomes a rule-breaker, it sends a message that we're not all in it together and the rules are elastic. I think that, after weeks of restrictions, weariness has set in. The fear of sickness and death has maybe lost some of its edge, and people are tempted to start taking risks. No-one is going to be inspired by Cummings to do things they hadn't thought of doing, but his behaviour helps people to justify things they want to do but know they shouldn't.