The Cummings Effect - are people rebelling?

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

I think the worse part of Cummings behaviour and self justification is the effect it might have on some poor people who left children alone in hospital, or parents to die alone. Will they wonder if they should have ignored the rules to show they cared?

Well said MawB. My sentiments entirely. Long may you reign!!

talk of holidays to Greece etc.

Ha ha! They'll be lucky. Greece has said that they won't accept travellers from the UK. Good for them. Who would want people from the UK with its dodgy management of the virus?

I suspect that we'll soon be experiencing a second wave of infection. We'll be international lepers...

Cummings displays an arrogance he should be ashamed of. His late arrival at the press conference was a sign of contempt for everyone watching. He is not worthy of that job. He looks unclean, always unshaven, disheveled. Who would want their Son looking like that regardless of his job. What has he got on Boris? I think he DID tell Boris and is covering for him now because of Hancock's statement " This is not a request, this is an Order" Stay home, save lives. Yeh!! right !!!.

grannyscott that’s a great post.
Doom and gloom from the media AND they are telling us that we should feel aggrieved, what we should think and what we will be doing. Fortunately not everyone needs the media or DC to direct their judgement.
They decided (and I don’t disagree) that DC broke or at least manipulated the rules for whatever reason but, like a foxhunting pack they can’t leave body alone.
They probably justify their attempts to be the closest whilst on the attack, by telling themselves that the guidelines said go to work if you have to and forgetting the accompanying advice.
The problem is that publishing, “The majority of people are following the guidance and have avoided overwhelming the NHS” or publishing figures of those who have had the virus and recovered as well as the appalling total of deaths simply doesn’t sell papers or persuade people to watch a particular channel.

Dominic Cummings is a key worker and a dad fearing he’d be left without childcare if both he and his wife got ill. I think far too much fuss is being made of this by people who will jump on any small thing to criticise the government. How about some support for a very difficult role at unprecedented difficult times ? Can you imagine this situation in Jeremy Corbyns hands ( had he won )?
We should all keep social distancing as before plus washing hands and just being careful. It’s about Keeping safe not an unnecessary witch hunt because we are bored and irritated with lockdown. Think positive folks!

I have noticed a slight increase in the sound of traffic and people do seem to be a little more relaxed but my area is still very quiet and more locked down than not.
I don't feel betrayed by him because I was aware of the things he is capable of saying about the people he considers beneath him and did not expect him to suddenly become a decent person. He is not someone whose behaviour I would use as a guide.
His allegiance is to Johnson and it is Johnson who has betrayed the electorate. There are an increasing number of Conservatives who are getting angry about it. Amber Rudd is the latest asking for him to go.

AGAA4 - i suppose your neighbour's will be staying at their second home for 14 days now to 'self-isolate'??

Im sorry if this point has been raised but, leyburn is the son actually autistic? I thought that had been dismissed
But to answer the question we live in a rural area very near Barnard Castle actually, and after the rose garden appearance the road outside our house was the busiest ive seen it since lockdown, neighbour couldn't park, but no just cos DC doesn't follow guidance doesn't mean i would put my shielding husband at risk, so we will go along as we are while we are able to although i would love to see my brother who has downs and i miss very much, but who is at least safe, healthy and well looked after by carers who have been my lockdown heros

There have been people flouting the rules since the beginning, especially it seems teenagers that in some places have been out around the streets and in the parks as normal.
One of my friends who has young children was out for their allowed exercise a couple of weeks ago and noticed several families playing on the childrens' play area that had previously been taped off - they had just broken the tape and carried on as normal. Her 3 year old said in a very loud voice "Mummy those people very naughty" One of the parents in the group shouted over (with added expletives) "We pay for this in our council tax so we have a right to use it !" They just couldn't get the point!
So basically Cummings isn't really alone - but then we aren't all lucky enough to have somewhere else to go in the same situation .

Two wrongs never make a right. I think the people who are being irresponsible just because of what Dominic Cummings did might have been looking for an excuse to do so.

I am very worried...it will be interesting to see if infection rates go up again.

This made me laugh but I’m really angry he broke the rules and the PM is covering his arris. I was backing BJ but have lost faith in him now. We are in an unclear mess now. ?

What I would be more concerned about, what on earth was Dominic cummings doing driving 30 miles to test his eyesight????????? How dangerous!!

My dear GS has Downs Syndrome, my DD let him go to school because he is vulnerable. When she went to collect him everyone was upset because he was crying and no one was able to cuddle him (he is very cuddly). He has been at home since. If my DD does go back to work, I will volunteer to look after him although I know I, too am vulnerable. I couldn't bear him to be so upset.

Education and privilege are no substitute for plain common sense ....

I think it WILL cost him an election- in fact i wouldn't be at all surprised if the British public started to call for a re- election early! Its even made his own MP's very angry & some have even resigned i heard. People were just starting to like him and then we all felt proper sorry for him when he got ill- we don't now as it was probably his friend Cummings, traipsing back & forth even before lockdown, who gave him it?! So serve him right if he gets knocked off the PM spot

I will stick to the rules not just for the sake of myself but for others who might be more vulnerable. The problem is some will see it as a green light to "follow their instincts" and "test their eyesight". Maybe Cummings panicked and did what he thought was best for his family at the time, but during his press briefing (in the rose garden usually reserved for very important people) he showed no remorse and failed to apologise for breaking the rules he made, and it makes me feel as if it's one rule for them and another for the rest of us. It has made me feel disappointed in our leaders and that they hold us in contempt. In not sacking Cummings Johnson begins to look like Cummings puppet. Who is governing the country? Is the PM afraid of what Cummings knows, or can he not do without him? I don't think the PM looks well either.

I agree with red1 : politicians of all parties seem to think they are above the law. Look at Stephen Kinnock who visited his father Neil and posted a picture on Facebook of him sitting in the front garden! The police admonished him and said that the visit wasn’t an essential journey. All politicians seem to bend the truth.

They go low we go high and they couldn't go much lower

How did Cummings 'misinterpret' the rules when he made them? You've have to be pretty stupid not to be able to understand your own rules, or the way in which they were communicated, when you are the government's communications guru. There was no misinterpretation - the rules were broken.

Will that make a difference to my behaviour? Probably not. I haven't been out since March 13th, and I have no immediate plans to go anywhere, so the chances are that nobody will contact me and ask me to stay in for another 14 days.

I am, however, now very reluctant to download an app, as are many people I know, most of whom are working age, so I do wonder about how successful the scheme will be. I would happily have my location monitored for the duration, but I want no part of an app that potentially hands over other information to Mr Cummings. I think he is very dangerous, as he sees himself as above the law. He is a believer in eugenics, and has specifically said that 'we need to protect the economy, and if a few pensioners die, so be it', and his recent behaviour has shown that he is absolutely not to be trusted.

There also seem to be no safeguards against the misuse of the information that others report (ie mistakes, omissions and malicious reports), and there will be lots of people using the 'Cummings Defence' in mitigation, which will weaken the efficacy of the system.

So the short answer is that I won't change my behaviour, but I may have answered differently if my behaviour was already different.

I have been using common sense from the start which does involve breaking the rules. For example I have always gone out twice a day for dog walking - it's kept me sane to be able to converse with people in person when I do see another dog walker. I do not queue and I find the queues rather spooky. I go to Tesco Express which never seems to have a queue - if necessary which it isn't much because I get a big shop delivered every 2 to 3 weeks. I began meeting up with my son and 2 year old grandson every Sunday since Easter. He is shielding and working at home and his wife had her 3rd miscarriage in 9 months and is very depressed. It's the highlight of his week. I could go on - basically I've been a week ahead of the government since the start - even started self isolating a week before we were told to. Now I am angry with DC and BJ - but I hope people will continue to use common sense unlike those idiots.

If people are stupid enough to use one mans behaviour as a reason to stop following the rules and ignore the pleas of the NHS nurses in tears on tv then they obviously will not be surprised at a second wave and another lockdown in a few months time.

I too am very angry about Dominic Cummings- but i would not,as Happygirl79 said, stoop as low as him! I can see why many others would follow suit though, because they, as he, didn't really want to comply in the first place, or think it won't matter as much now they're easing the lockdown i guess- and theres lots are very very angry with Boris for not only not sacking him, but in effect all but patting him on the back for doing it- so they're no longer willing to take advice from him! What did gov't expect,that he'd let him off with it, and the British people would say "oh thats ok then, but we'll just do as we're told!"- yes i can see why they want to throw the towel in

I shall follow the keep safe rules as ever BUT have enormous resentment at the way Dominic Cummings has behaved. I don't think it will cost Boris the next election but, it will stay in a lot of people's minds. As Prime Minister, he ought to have put his country before his friend.

There has been a huge surge in infections in North Somerset since the VE Day Bank Holiday celebrations when a lot of people came down to Weston Super Mare from the Midlands and other places to spend time on the beach.

Weston Hospital closed earlier this week and will have to stay closed for another week. Apparently 40% of the nursing staff have also tested positive.

I am sure there will be another surge following the latest Bank Holiday weekend. Where there are people, there is virus..... it's as simple as that.