The story that hit Downing Street dominated the front pages of newspapers in England, when anger increased over reports that aide Boris Johnson ignored the locking rules to make several trips in England.
The government spent Saturday discussing the first round of stories about Dominic Cummings, after it was discovered he had gone from London to Durham while his wife was ill with symptoms of Covid-19.
The ministers said Cummings, who was often painted as the mastermind behind the Brexit campaign and Boris Johnson’s leadership, only traveled to his parents’ homes to get help with childcare – even though the trip was clearly contrary to the guidelines that people did not travel to see family members and alienate themselves in one place if they have symptoms.
But much of that defense seems to be based on the idea that Cummings only made one trip. The Observer and Daily Mirror reported on Saturday night, that witnesses had seen Cummings near Durham again on several dates in April, after he recovered from the symptoms of Covid-19.
The two papers, which work on shared stories, lead their Sunday edition with new claims and calls for Johnson to fire Cummings.
Downing Street said in a fiery response to the latest stories that “will not waste our time answering a series of false accusations about Mr. Cummings from a newspaper campaign” – an extraordinary attack on two national newspapers that showed they did not support their aide defense that.
But the call for him to stop only grew louder on Sunday, when Conservative lawmakers began cutting ties with the party and asking Cummings to leave. The influential backbencher, Steve Baker, said it was “intolerable” that the Johnson government gave up so much political capital to save Cummings’ work.
Simon Hoare added on Twitter: “Lockdown has its challenges for everyone. This is arrogant, “I don’t care; I am smarter than you “tone that makes people angry. He is now hurting the PM / Government & I don’t like it. “
Cummings anti-establishment message, rude and ready attitude and cruel reputation have made him a controversial figure at the best of times.
But that is the way the government defends it – and the potential that they have severely undermined their own lock-up to save their work – which has angered critics.
“What worries me most is that some of the most senior politicians in the government have spent the weekend breaking down laws and public health messages designed to protect people in a pandemic. All to defend their friends. This is what is important,” shadow Labor Justice Secretary David Lammy said on Sunday.
And the government feels heat even from newspapers that are traditionally sympathetic to Boris Johnson.
The Telegraph, which counts the Prime Minister among previous columnists, sprinkled a second claim – which was revealed just in time on Saturday night to generate a wave of new questions on Sunday.
Meanwhile Mail on Sunday dedicated several pages of coverage to the scandal, while the Sunday Times led Johnson’s defense of his aide, but noted that “Cummings voter requests resign” in his subhed.
Johnson personally kept quiet over the weekend, did not give interviews and made no public statements about Cummings. But it is increasingly clear that this political dispute has been a defining moment in the response of the British coronavirus.
