Will he resign?

Good heavens! The Change petition is up to 213,000 now and seems to be rising at about 100 signatures a minute!

As someone who is "vulnerable", I'm dismayed at his behaviour. To knowingly take the bugs to potentially share with the family is bad enough, but what about when they needed a "comfort break" on the way there??? Is childcare not available in London IF they really needed it?

While Cummings clings to his job with the baffling support of Johnson we all have to hold strong.

Because Cummings behaved like a reckless fool the big danger to us all is if everyone follows his lead and drops their guard now at this crucial stage.

We’d all love to meet and hug our loved ones, help with childcare to ease the pressure on our AC etc. No one more than me.

But the disgusting behaviour of Cummings and Johnson does not change the fact we are in the midst of a pandemic. A potentially fatal virus is still in every community. To follow Cummings lead and drop our guard could set off the dreaded second wave of the virus which could be catastrophic for us all.

I’m aching to see my little grandchildren 130 miles away. But we have to hold strong and continue this battle together in a safe way.

Those who will choose to throw caution to the wind in the wake of this disgusting fiasco could set us all back to full lockdown and ITUs full to bursting with patients fighting to survive, more frontline staff dying and more care homes decimated.

The consequences are unthinkable.

No, I don't Chewbacca. I don't think it's about remorse. It's all part of a game. That article is a sham, in the same way Johnson's talk of making red buses out of boxes was.

They've proved to themselves and the rest of us that they are above the law and the boundaries of accepted morality. They can do what they like - and we're letting them.

What a splendid piece of fiction Mary Wakefield wrote; full of details and anecdotes and even the odd bit of prose thrown in to pique the readers sympathy.

Does anyone think that these two lying, deceitful, arrogant pieces of are having even the smallest shred of remorse?

(Do you think he has a fluffy white cat?)

I think the trip (or trips) to Durham are a distraction. All he had to do was something the British public would find outrageous.

It needs a Hercule Poirot or Jane Marple - any Agatha Christie fans will know what I'm talking about.

They're doing it with mirrors!

Morning All

A thought. Could it be that Cummings is also well up on the autistic spectrum (he seems to have a problem with buttons and clothes fastenings), and that he’s unable to cope on his own with his son? Perhaps he had a meltdown and the trip to see his mum was the only resolution. There’s a lot we don’t know here. Does he actually speak to his London relatives? Or more to the point, do they have anything to do with him?

When a person has the amount of power over a democratic country that Cummings has, he can’t stay hidden in the shadows. He’s a public figure whether he likes it or not. Perhaps its time for him to come clean. A bit of honesty wouldn’t go amiss.

Not in the cabinet, but there are decent human beings on the Tory back benches.

Maybe, just maybe this is the beginning of their end?

It needs some brave individuals in the Tory cabinet. Is that an oxymoron?

It's been a tool in a long-term game.

I just hope people don't fall for it. It's only a small part of it anyway, but people mustn't do anything against their best interests. That's what we're being encouraged to do.

Closing down Parliament, neutering the press, the judges, the civil service and now medical/scientific advisers is all part of it.

Democracy has been pushed to its limit - yet there have been no repercussions.

You could almost believe that for them, covid has been a welcome distraction.

We're being played like pawns on a chessboard.

This is about distraction and getting something past the British public, which in normal circumstances it would never approve.

growstuff god it is all so bloody depressing

Question - How do you get a population to act against its best interests, yet persuade them they're acting with free will?

Sound familiar?

I wondered why Cummings mentioned Brexit when he was interviewed by reporters outside his home. It seemed irrelevant at the time, but I wonder.

No I know, but the myth they built up. Intelligent Johnson, Cummings against the elite etc, are being exposed as complete falsehoods. It is a start.

Yes the real worry is dark dealings but how on earth can that be dealt with if it buried so deeply no one knows about it?

vegansrock Don't put yourself or your family in any danger (I'm sure you won't), but don't take your eye off what else is happening in this country.

But it's not collapsing round his ears. That's what is so remarkable. He's getting away with stuff which nobody else would have done. He's pushed people to the edge - yet there have been no consequences.

There is something very wrong about this whole sordid tale on so many levels.

I keep mentioning the Agriculture Bill and the NHS. People have been distracted from what is really going on under our very noses and will have much longer term effects then one odious man breaking the rules which he, himself, helped write, however arrogant and hypocritical he is.

janipat I am visiting family in their garden and doing essential childcare support. We have to follow our instincts on this we are now being told.
Anyone still got any respect or confidence in this mob?

Twitter are reporting that Cummings has travelled to Durham at least 5 times during lockdown.

Cummings' mother is now trying to claim that the whole family was in mourning for the death of her brother (John Laws) - not sure whether that's supposed to be another or excuse or what.

Laws died on 5 April in a London hospital after a three week illness.

According to Mary Wakefield's article, on 5 April (the day Johnson went into hospital), she fell on her knees and prayed for Johnson. There was no mention of praying for her husband's uncle, who had died the same day.

Oh what a tangled web we weave when at first we practise to deceive ….

Yesterday’s lockdown message got completely drowned out.

The country can’t continue like this.