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The true crime of dom cummings

The crime of Dominic Cummings is to be willing to upset the cosy apple cart by which those too dim to actually create something still gain power and influence. For that those who currently gain from the current system will never forgive him and thus the witch hunt against him.

 

76 thoughts on “The true crime of dom cummings”

  1. Yarp.

    Was his press conference yesterday a good idea?

    Instincts tell me “narp”, this was simply fresh blood for the Blood God, but obviously there’s lots of behind the scenes shenaniganry we don’t know about.

    DomCum’s rather limp and inoffensive demeanour chafed my nips. I don’t expect anyone in Westminster to go Full Lucius Mummius, especially after BoJo’s meek and mild press conference previously, but it would be nice, would it not? Instead of tacitly accepting the media lynch mob’s framing of DC’s childcare arrangements as Serious Business.

    If we can’t have some preinstalled cruci at Downing Street for members of the fourth estate who deserve to be elevated, at least know how to answer weaponised questions properly, and with conviction:

    “Will you apologise for blah blah blah single mother blah blah other bullshit?”

    “No, I will NEVER apologise for protecting my child.”

    Not… “Oooh well… umm… [Gulps]… you know… I was trying…”

    By the flaming beard of Crom, it’s not that hard, is it?

  2. DomCum’s rather limp and inoffensive demeanour chafed my nips.

    Not sure. I think his being Mr Reasonable, any-parent-would-have-done-the-same-and-I-didn’t-break-any-rules, for the first press conference was a good idea. It certainly showed up the frothing at the mouth journalists at their most contemptible worst. If the witchhunt doesn’t now fizzle out, then he can always dial it up for next time, Mean Machine Angel-style.

  3. I believe that Cummings’ child is autistic so it wouldn’t be wise to foist him on a stranger or even worse social services, if the parents had become incapacitated.

    A friend of mine, his girlfriend has been self isolating since March 16th and is currently in hospital with covid. Rather than ask whether the lock down was worth it, she’s bleating on facebook about Cummings.

  4. Under similar circumstances I would do exactly the same as he did. Been there, done that with toddlers needing Grandparent care 240 miles away when my wife was in hospital. Yes, Cummings could have been more forceful – a bit of ‘FOAD you preachy gits’ but perhaps not in quite those terms would have gone down well, but he’s definitely a backroom boy rather than an up-front bullshitter personality so it was pretty shitty forcing him to do that (I assume pressure was applied).

  5. agree with Steve. more Dom Cummings statements.
    “I support all those members of the public who did as i did and protect their child. I support all those media professionals who protect their children, the ones who do have them that is. The people who didn’t go to funerals I support them too. I do admit though i should have gone to specsavers.(dot com)”

  6. I have tried to find similar accusations of elitism and “normal guidelines don’t apply to me” by the Leftwaffe press over Stephen Kinnock’s trip to wish his Dad “Happy Birthday”, but I can’t seem to find any. I did find accusations of over zealous Policing when a mild tweet from the local force was published, but nothing else. Perhaps it’s not important when it’s a Labour politician doing it?

  7. @Penseivat “Perhaps it’s not important when it’s a Labour politician doing it?”

    That’s different, because reasons. (c) Socialism.

  8. @moqifen: Can I ask, if this lassie has isolated since March 16th, how did the virus get to her. It might have been on a food delivery, envelope through the door, I can only guess, but would like to know more. More generally I wish the medical people were given more and better questions by the media – such as where are these 2000+ extra daily infections now coming from? Is there a breakdown which tells us what are high risk methods of transmission – surely all within household transmission routes have been used up by now.

  9. Thing is, politics is a rough’n’tumble trade. Sometimes you have to go – at least, temporarily bugger off, might well get rehired quietly in 18 months – just to keep up appearances.

    The media reaction is certainly driven in large part by Brexit-induced Cummingsitis. But the reaction among ordinary normal people has been pretty upset too, “it’s one rule for them and another for us” is never a good look. (What I find so perplexing is why the general public always seem so surprised to rediscover this fact every couple of years, for the last couple of centuries – it seems to be a penny that will never stay dropped.)

    Cummings seems to think that if he stayed within the rules, flexibly interpreted given what he sees as the extraordinary circumstances of his case, and feels he has reasonable grounds to claim he did nothing wrong, then that means he should stay. Perhaps morally he’s right and he shouldn’t be chucked under the bus for doing everything he could to protect his family. But if you undermine the main message the government has been trying to project, damage the credibility of the government itself, sometimes the right thing to do is to go. We’ll have to see whether this turns out to be just another blip on the road, or a genuine turning point. Most blips look like turning points at the time, at least to the overexcitable.

    Given his combustible nature and tendency to make more enemies than friends even among people nominally on his own side, and the limited political capital he now has, I would be astonished if Cummings is still working at the highest levels of government by the time of the next GE. Personally I’d be disappointed if he was gone before the details of Brexit have been done and dusted, but I wonder if him leaving three days ago with a big apology would have been a better outcome politically for the government.

  10. @ MBE
    If you have an autistic child you shouldn’t get into politics. But Cummings was already deeply and probably irreversibly involved in politics before his child was diagnosed.
    As to “a big apology” – NO: if you have done nothing wrong you should *not* apologise to the lynch mob.
    I am not a particular fan of Dominic Cummings but this is where we remind ourselves of “I did not speak out when they came for the Jews because I was not a Jew…”

  11. @bongo – i’ve no idea – perhaps as you suggest from a delivery or perhaps she wasn’t as goody two shoes as she’d like to make out. I suspect we’ll never know. Whatever she must feel a bit of a fool/unlucky staying indoors for 2 months and still getting it.

  12. I see nothing wrong with what Dom Cummings did – I personally think the lockdown is incredibly stupid, COVID-19 massively overhyped and the overall (likely permanent) loss in liberty an absolute tragedy for which journos and politicos need to hang.

    That said, I am amazed that he did not consider how said journos and opposition (including Tory) MPs would react. His enemies were desperate for anything to get him for and he handed it to them on a plate. It just seems rather naive.

  13. BiW – If the witchhunt doesn’t now fizzle out, then he can always dial it up for next time, Mean Machine Angel-style.

    It’s very difficult to break out of a submissive posture (which his body language and tone of voice at the press conference quite literally was) – no guarantee he’ll get another go.

    De l’audace, encore de l’audace, toujours de l’audace et la Patrie sera sauvée!

    HB – Amazing that nobody at No 10 coached him to answer the extremely obvious questions he was going to face. He was wibbling, at one point made the unforced blunder of saying the government made mistakes on Coronavirus (!) This ain’t rocket surgery, either DC is a lot less clever than he thinks he is or someone set him up to fail.

    MBE – But the reaction among ordinary normal people has been pretty upset too,

    Gov has framed it all wrong. Or, to be pendantic, they seem to have the rudiments of a plan to reframe it, but their execution sucks donkey balls.

    If you have nothing to apologise for, don’t look and sound apologetic.

    If it’s not a big deal, don’t hold press conferences about it.

    If you want to reboot the news cycle, use the tremendous power the government has at its disposal to reboot the news cycle.

    Doesn’t seem to have quite sunken in at Number 10 that the press are the Enemy. Tories are bringing a bouquet of flowers to a knife fight as usual.

  14. There’s a great talk that he did at the IPPR on YouTube, where he lays into just about everyone based on his experiences in the Dept for Ed.

    Cameron, Clegg, Craig Oliver, Civil Service, PPE grads, left and right – they all get both barrels.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNaWPV5l4j4

    Well worth just watching.

  15. “Personally I’d be disappointed if he was gone before the details of Brexit have been done and dusted, but I wonder if him leaving three days ago with a big apology would have been a better outcome politically for the government.”

    I think you’ve missed the point of the Johnson/Cummings project, which was to transform government and the supporting establishment. Without Cummings the project sinks, and Boris is backed into a corner – forced to extend the EU negotiations and accept that nothing will ever change, before stepping down for another sock puppet that looks remarkably similar to Cameron, Clegg, Starmer and Miliband. The blob will have won.

  16. I’m not sure about the public ‘anger’ about this. My anecdatal evidence suggests the following reactions:

    Who is this bald chap and why is he on the telly suddenly?
    If it was my children I’d do whatever the fuck was necessary and sod the guidelines.
    Why are we still talking about this?

    @Steve – A few people noted that he seemed calm and reasonable during the press conference, whereas the press seemed unnecessarily red-faced and spitty about the whole thing. This suggests he’s not damaged himself significantly.

    Of course there is real and definitely not at all confected anger amongst:

    FBPE mentalists
    The Twattersphere
    Momentum supporters
    Tory MPs who Cummings might have dismissed as thick as mince
    Da Meedja

    There is also some anger amongst those rightists/Brexiteers who can’t wait to do the left’s work and turn on their own side. The types who, if they were on the left, would even now be in a secret meeting about the launch of Skywards Momentum.

  17. Dennis: Oppressor, Warmonger, Capitalist and Consumer of Petroleum Products

    The crime of Dominic Cummings is to be willing to upset the cosy apple cart by which those too dim to actually create something still gain power and influence. For that those who currently gain from the current system will never forgive him and thus the witch hunt against him.

    Substitute Donald Trump for Dominic Cummings and those two sentences remain 100% accurate.

  18. “Was his press conference yesterday a good idea?”

    I thought it was pretty good. He changed my wife’s mind. “well, what else was he supposed to do then?” And remember, those are the votes that matter. Not some purple haired lesbian on Twitter or an alcoholic New Labour warmonger, but the housewives of England.

  19. I’m with MC on this. I think the press conference was designed to show the press foaming at the mouth and Cummings as cowed and contrite. He kept them hanging around 30 minutes in the hot sun before he even showed up, and if you watch him walk away at the end, perhaps his body language says “I nailed it”.

    I’m not saying it will work, but I’m saying it was a deliberate and well planned gamble.

  20. He’s an idiot. He’s supposed to be able to read the nations mood music blah blah. He knew politicians and the press were going to take any excuse to have a pop at him so rather than abide by the rules in spirit and letter he gives them this gift

    If there’s one thing British people love it’s a bit of class war, they might not know who he is, but they recognise he has broken the spirit of the rules when most others abided by them. The castle barnard excuse is pure lunacy and has just wound people up even more

  21. f there’s one thing British people love it’s a bit of class war

    That explains all the revolutions.

    the spirit of the rules

    The good old ‘spirit of the law’ argument. Otherwise known as ‘But I hate him! Wah! How dare he! Wah!’ (repeat until your tena lady gives out)

  22. Guise, I hope I am wrong and you are not, but bear in mind not many people will have seen anything from the press conference except the parts the MSM wants them to see. Probably wasn’t a mass audience watching Dominic Cummings live on a sunny bank holiday.

  23. Taxman, wrong on so many levels. Cummings doesn’t give a toss. He isn’t a politician so let’s leave reading music to the likes of Paul Mason.

    Cummings job is to shake things up and get shit done behind the scenes, his mantra is “get it done or fuck off” and he gives no shits for what anyone else thinks. We need more of his ilk.

  24. @BernieG

    “I think you’ve missed the point of the Johnson/Cummings project” – no, I know what the point of the project is, I’m just not a fully signed up member. Clearly DC would need to be around for far longer to secure that in any meaningful manner. My primary concern though is Brexit. After that, the British people will get whatever government they deserve – one they can vote in or vote out. That’s the main thing that matters to me, and if the majority of Brits keeping voting in governments I don’t enjoy living under, then so be it. I can always emigrate I suppose. No “transformation of government machinery” is likely to last forever, or even for very long. However well-intended I’m sure most such transformations end up merely as the latest round of redisorganisation to be covered in another chapter of The Massive And Boring Guide to British Civil Service History.

    I read an interesting argument somewhere that John Major’s greatly derided “traffic cone hotline” was actually part of a subtle yet powerful transformation of the machinery of state, making it more interactive and responsive to its “customers”. But I think such trends, if they have any lasting effect, tend to be part of deeper currents, driven by technological, social and managerial changes, rather than who’s been appointed at the top for a couple of years. The thing that worries if we get stuck eternally in the EU vortex is creeping federalism and the long-run cultural and legal influence of Brussels/Strasbourg/Frankfurt styles of governance affecting the fabric of the way the country is run, in a way that might be impossible to get out (and one in which the power of British voters to throw it off is severely time-limited – once you’re too close in its orbit, you might never extricate yourself). If the Boris Project starts and ends with Brexit and everything else is pretty much a wash, that’s okay by me.

    @Adders

    “Gave him the benefit of the doubt until the Barnard Castle bollocks…..” – every government minister and MP who has been called upon to defend DC in the media is getting grilled over the minutiae over what he did on what hour of what day, and looking pretty ridiculous when trying to field justifications over “would you drive for 30 miles with your family if you weren’t sure of your eyesight?” and “is going to Barnard Castle really ‘staying at home’?” Getting bogged down in such details is sapping the government’s credibility at a time when they want the public to be following public health advice they are issuing. It isn’t a good look and is one reason I think a PR adviser would have been recommending DC leave his post earlier this weekend. I actually found the Barnard Castle thing somewhat credible as I’ve also had funny feelings about my eyesight after periods of ill health – no discernible, specific deterioration but my vision just feels a bit “off” – and I like to get a practice run in to see if I’m up to stuff. Though I’d usually do that by walking around, avoiding screens and just trying to focus on things at different distances, and if I could swap driving duties (or avoid it entirely) I probably would. But it just sounds stupid.

    Bearing in mind he was facing the most important media session of his life, why did he not spend a couple of hours with a PR person ironing out his statement and going through all the obvious practice questions that he looked flatfooted against with the press? They’d surely have told him to replace the “eyesight” line with something more generic like “I wanted to ‘get my eye in’ and check I was ready for the long drive to London”, which doesn’t sound like he was endangering his family or other road users. They’d have told him that in response to “do you regret anything?” you don’t start with the answer with “no” because then the headline is “Cummings: I have no regrets”, and if you want to be combative you can give a pointed non-answer like “I will always do the right thing for my family, in the circumstances we find ourselves in and within what’s permitted by the rules.”

    @john77

    I am not sure about “if you have done nothing wrong you should *not* apologise to the lynch mob” because regardless of whether he technically squeezes into the extraordinary circumstances-related flexibility allowed in the rules, he has committed a political wrong. He publicly hurt the government he is supposed to be quietly serving. I agree with @Mal Reynolds, if he thought he could keep this quiet forever he was hopelessly naive. He made a political mistake and if he’d come out gracefully with a public apology for “undermining the key public health message of staying at home if possible” (which he did, regardless of whether he was justified in doing so) then the government might not have taken such a big hit. He might even have been rehabilitatable – either to stay in the role for now, or to go and spend some family time in Durham and get rehired on a “consultant” basis in a year or two. Instead he’s just painted an even bigger target on his back.

  25. The apparent lack of PR advice and preparation in Dom’s statement (and worse, in the following Q&A) seemed in stark contrast to the way it very carefully and analytically dealt with any possible legal issues. E.g. carefully explaining that when he first went home to his sick wife, she had not had a cough or fever (just vomit, if I recall correctly, which wasn’t on the list of symptoms at the time are supposed to lead to self-isolation) which was clearly a detail that had been added to justify why he went back to work after that. It sounded an awful lot like a lawyer had worked through it, paying close attention to what various regulations and advice said at the carefully specified time. Seems bizarre to have gone through the trouble to do that, but not get a proper PR person on the preparations too.

  26. “Gave him the benefit of the doubt until the Barnard Castle bollocks….”

    I’m inclined to agree. Taking his child to safety is one thing, but doing a 60 mile round trip just to see if your eyesight is O.K? I think that would be on dodgy legal grounds even in normal circumstances…

  27. Mal Reynolds

    “I see nothing wrong with what Dom Cummings did – I personally think the lockdown is incredibly stupid, COVID-19 massively overhyped and the overall (likely permanent) loss in liberty an absolute tragedy for which journos and politicos need to hang.”

    A hundred times over.

  28. Dennis, Standing for Parliament in Dunny-on-the-Wold

    You know, if Boris Johnson didn’t have his head up his ass when it comes to dealing with the pandemic, none of this would have happened. Funny how implementing badly flawed public policy, and then refusing to adapt as circumstances warrant leads to bad things happening. Everyone already knew Labour, the EU, lots of Tories, and the BBC wanted Cummings’ scalp. And Boris Johnson set the stage for it to happen. Nobody has to argue about whether a 60 mile drive is warranted if your government is dealing with the COVID pandemic with a degree of common sense.

    Face it, Boris Johnson is the Second Coming of John Major. That’s all this blow-up really tells us.

  29. @john77

    If you work in politics you need to be able to play good politics. It’s a team game even if you don’t want it to be, particularly for those working at the top end of it rather than maverick backbenchers. If you make a wrong move and screw up the basic politics, you’ve let down your allies, your cause, and any poor sod whose duty it’s now become to stick their head above the parapet to defend you from the indefensible. Don’t be seen to be hypocritical. Hold your tongue rather than say something outrage-provoking but in your view true, especially at a sensitive time. Don’t break cabinet responsibility. Don’t openly attack the leadership of your own party unless you think it’s time for a coup and you reckon you’ve got the numbers for it. Stay relentlessly on-message. Don’t create unnecessary drama. Don’t do your opponents’ work for you.

    Dom Cummings just handed a king-sized gift-wrapped present to every opposition party. With a bleeding great bow on it and a personalised message saying “love from Dom and the Cummings”. Even if what he did was legal on a technicality, even if it was the best thing for his family. Every government minister and MP called up to face the media rounds today and defend the minutiae of Barnard Castlegate must feel like wringing his neck.

    I’m not saying those are all “good rules” by the way. I’d rather MPs behaved less like mindless automata in their quest for promotion, and I think governments would enact fewer stupid policies if they faced more flak from their own side. Many attacks on political leaders are justified – even, and perhaps especially, friendly-fire. Sometimes politicians are too afraid to speak the honest truth on sensitive topics because they’re too worried how it will go down with swing voters and focus groups, and the cementing of “unspeakable topics” means vital issues go uninvestigated. Hypocrisy can be the result of trying to do the right thing for you and your loved ones (in your judgement, but not necessarily the judgement of your colleagues, their policies, or the voters you face). Still, all these rules have evolved for a reason – politics is a brutal sport, and its dynamics punish those who breach them, whatever individual justification is invoked for each such infraction.

  30. I suspect that a major reason why Dominic Cummings has been so roundly vilified on social media is because expressing anti-Cummings sentiment provides one with three virtue signalling points for the price of one (remainer + pro-lockdown + anti-hypocrisy).

  31. Ok so the rule was this … ( during the period of maximum danger and the period responsible for most of the dead )
    1 If anyone in your household is suspected of having Covid 19 ..immediately, and without there being any emergency,drive form the most highly infected place in the country, without stopping ( liar..obviously ), to the other end of the country.
    2 Do this no matter how uniquely privileged you may be when it comes to accessing resources including family local to you as if you needed them.
    3 Whilst there wander about in the town centre ..have a good cough on some old people .. visit a local Beauty spot all of which ..might I remind pitiful dupes … are only the things he had to admit to because he was seen and he knew it. Finally you must without fail present your child at the local hospital.. ie the very reason such a trip was not allowed.
    4 Publish,between you and your wife, material which clearly shows you know perfectly well what you did was unforgivable
    5 Pretend that when the PM knew you were working form home you omitted to ell him it was a home 260 miles away
    6 Invent a story that the PM who was ,,RUNNING THE COUNTRY at the time ,,,was so mentally feeble that when you told him you were in Durham he was unable to process the information.

    So if I may summarise the rules of this Great National endeavour to save lives are do what the fuck you like and subsequently weave only those parts of your shitty behaviour known anyway into an infantile lie .Add the accusation anyone who objects to being treated like a cunt is twisted and vengeful.
    In fact the only people who defend Liar are the same people who are far right fruitcakes anyway who lost any acquaintance with objective truth some time ago. I honestly didn’t expect the sort of grovelling forelock tugging mewing repulsive self abasement I have seen here
    You spineless wankers … ..he is not the messiah….and he has got to go

  32. remainer + pro-lockdown + anti-hypocrisy

    So we will only accept any opinion offered by someone who is closet racist, fruitcake ,who likes killing people and lying ? Not sure how may people will wish to own that little cocktail…

  33. So we will only accept any opinion offered by someone who is closet racist, fruitcake ,who likes killing people and lying ?

    So… Winston Churchill?

  34. Facepaint–go suck Tusk’s dick you remainiac offal–he is hurting and needs you.

    Denis–Yes Blojo is fucking useless–but ALL of the 650 House of Scum fuckers are on board with the LD and Bloj is the best of a tub of shite. ANY likely replacement would be MUCH worse . As with Trump.

  35. @Newmania
    Or you could trust the journalists sitting on your doorstep to stand aside while Amazon delivered food parcels? Really?
    Do you have any idea ho to look after an autistic 4 year old?

  36. @Newmania
    Or you could trust the journalists sitting on your doorstep to stand aside while Amazon delivered food parcels? Really?
    Do you have any idea ho to look after an autistic 4 year old?

    Funny you mention autism.It has occurred to me that Cummings must be on the spectrum to have so little conception of what other people would think of his contempt for his own rules and subsequent misconception about how ,(basically) ,treating us all like cretins, would play.
    His child does not have extreme needs and yes, as it happens, we do frequently look after children on the spectrum.It is not an uncommon reality and it is also often used, like achey backs and sad feelings, as catch all excuse for any old shit.
    He did not suffer any security risk or undue press attention at that time and he had, at his disposal, well worn remedies for any security risk as have all previous press secretaries, as well as any child care.

    The plain fact is he did not give a flying fuck about the rules other people follow, because he thinks he is above them .In any case ,as we know, he was opposed to the lock down anyway hence the fatal dithering in the first pace that has already lead tom also many unnecessary deaths. ( you will have noted his desperate attempt to cover his tracks on that one as well )
    You know what this is all like its like the bleeding heart left

    “What was John`s crime ..was it that he smashed a widow and nicked a telly ..or was it that he is black worried suffering prejudice and at the centre of a complex web of pressures?”

    I say ..no…it is the fact he nicked the telly ..twat
    Same goes for that lying cunt Cummings that was his real crime.

  37. @BiW

    “Frothing at the mouth journalists”:

    Despite having their arses handed to them on a plate by Dominic Cummings

    Indeed: Sneering BBC’s Kuenssburk humiliated
    Dominic Cummings Destroys the Remainer Media
    https://youtu.be/BJtj2mkTxU0?t=736

    BBC Kuenssberg “Heartbreaking Decisions”
    https://youtu.be/7BUDNjYBu74?t=308

    Heartbreaking Decisions? Not here, I’ve not changed what I do in any way inc no extra handwashing and not dead – yet

    Cummings Guilty on two counts: Tory & Brexiter in Chief
    Remainer Left Media & Brexit Proxy Wars: Remain-Supporting Junior Minister Resigns from Boris Government

    Four days of this bollocks now; how long did Stephen Kinnock driving similar to wish his father happy birthday last? Is he still a Labour MP?

    Oppressed? Welcome to North Korea

    Happy children thanking their Dear Leader

    H/T Samizdata

  38. @BiW

    “Frothing at the mouth journalists”:

    Despite having their arses handed to them on a plate by Dominic Cummings

    Indeed: Sneering BBC’s Kuenssburk humiliated
    Dominic Cummings Destroys the Remainer Media
    https://youtu.be/BJtj2mkTxU0?t=736

    BBC Kuenssberg “Heartbreaking Decisions”
    https://youtu.be/7BUDNjYBu74?t=308

    Heartbreaking Decisions? Not here, I’ve not changed what I do in any way inc no extra handwashing and not dead – yet

    Cummings Guilty on two counts: Tory & Brexiter in Chief
    Remainer Left Media & Brexit Proxy Wars: Remain-Supporting Junior Minister Resigns from Boris Government

    Four days of this bollocks now; how long did Stephen Kinnock driving similar to wish his father happy birthday last? Is he still a Labour MP?

  39. The problem with comparisons like “how long did Stephen Kinnock driving similar to wish his father happy birthday” is that Kinnock was not supposed to be in quarantine, which in principle is supposed to be far stricter than mere isolation because it’s about protecting others from imminent risk, not just protecting yourself. You can disagree with the harshness of the lockdown of the uninfected but still see quarantine of the infected as vital to stopping the spread. The Kinnock comparison is also less powerful in terms of hypocrisy as Kinnock isn’t in government and was neither driving policy nor fronting in the messaging – in contrast, the Scottish medical officer who appeared in their “stay at home” adverts simply had to go, what alternative was there when she was the face of the Stay At Home campaign?

    Even if Cummings thought what he did was within the rules, he’d have had to be daft to think this wouldn’t have substantial political blowback. Or maybe he did realise and that’s why he kept it quiet for so long – but he’d have had to be daft to think this kind of thing can stay a secret forever. So I still can’t work out what his gameplan was. He usually has one, but all of this – from his trip to the attempted coverup to the godawful media strategy – seems surprisingly badly planned to me.

  40. @MBE

    Quarantine? Self/family-isolation is guidance in a car differs from isolation in a home in what way? Also, isolation is advisory not mandatory. Quarantine is if a Dr authorises

    “Even if Cummings thought what he did was within the rules” why would he believe he needed to hold a press conference every day about what he did yesterday? Do you?

    Ah well, some vulnerable to Gov’t and MSM Coronaphobia & CDS and love totalitarian lockdown, Stalin would be proud of, as would hysterical Piers Morgan

    Brendan O’Neill is spot on, it’s a chilling witchunt
    – Dominic Cummings subject to ‘incredibly anti-democratic authoritarian campaign’
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH28gJ_hHWs

    The chilling support by MSM, Left and many public of Stasi totalitarianism has been exposed by this lockdown
    – UK’s remainers are ‘baying for Dominic Cummings’ blood’
    – Many in the UK are going after one of Boris Johnson’s senior advisors Dominic Cummings not “because of what he did, it’s purely because he represents Brexit”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96-dIUtmNjs

    Julia exposes her statist support again as she’s done on QT before
    – Brendan O’Neill: ‘Absolutely psychotic response to Dominic Cummings from media and activists’
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPWtELOcZCY

  41. MBE–Piss on the LD –as have many from the start as far as they can with nowhere open. This was always a shoddy flu and NEVER a “deadly pandemic” outside the fantasises of the power-seeking and the cowardly. Piss on a small slice of media manufactured outrage being created by leftist and remain scum because they want Cummings scalp.. If Blojo gives one inch on Cummings or Brexit extension he will be swept away and he should know that. He is stubborn enough re stupidity like HSR2–let him be stubborn for something worthwhile.

    Any of you lads troubled by a legal bent know if PM could retaliate against the Dead tree/MSM by D-noticing them 100% for a week? Make them produce a weeks worth of papers that are –well– blank and tv newscasts that have no news? They already have no real news but I mean literal silence– the anchorchump just staring at the camera for 10 minutes or muzak. There is some precedent with the Gerry Adams blank out/talk over of a few years ago.That might be an amusing wheeze to retaliate against a corrupt press/media.

  42. Newmania,

    My 4 year old girl is autistic, only mildly, mind, but there is no way we could leave her to be looked after by people she doesn’t know well. We tried to send her to Kindergarten once and she was kicked out by lunchtime for biting the teachers and generally terrorising everyone.

    If I was in DC’s position with my little girl I’d have driven across country so that she could be looked after by someone with whom she is familiar.

  43. My 4 year old girl is autistic, only mildly, mind, but there is no way we could leave her to be looked after by people she doesn’t know well. We tried to send her to Kindergarten once and she was kicked out by lunchtime for biting the teachers and generally terrorising everyone.

    Would you really take an autistic child and for no reason radically disturb their routine simply to sit in a nice quiet spot ? Hours and hours in the car taken form their environment . I can hardly imagine a worse idea.
    We have often had two boys who are high functioning but really difficult over the years as they are friends of our own children, I am well aware of the challenges and assuming you are in good faith all I would say is that it does seem to get better …much better. Best of luck

  44. Bloke in North Dorset

    MBE,

    Not to defend or condemn or defend either, Cummings knew he was infected and so had to be super cautious. Kinnock didn’t know and could have been less then cautious whilst shedding viral load (FWIW I suspect he will have been very cautious as well).

    I’m still not sure whether the hypocrisy accusation is accurate but whatever the case it’s been very badly handled by both the government and media.

  45. Newmania,

    Thank you. Yes, I was saying that in good faith.

    I have experience only with my daughter and she seems ok travelling. Like I said she is mild and it wasn’t until a few months ago that it was actually diagnosed; at first we thought she was just developing speech late and that made her frustrated and naughty.

    She’s in the lockdown in the Philippines and has left the house only once in the past two months to go to the hospital because she got a pencil lead stuck in her ear, lol. It was sad though because she was excited because she thought she was going to see her therapist and packed her ‘school’ bag. This lockdown has really messed up any routine she had.

    I guess all autistic kids are different and I don’t know anything about DC’s child, as I said my daughter is my only experience with this. However, I know mine can’t stand being left with someone she doesn’t know. She sees this therapist who she now loves to bits, she was going 4 times a week prior to the lockdown, but for the first two weeks she’d spend the 2 hour sessions screaming, hitting and biting the therapist and trying to escape the room.

  46. Dongguan Johm–I mean no disrespect to your child but if some of the theories about heavy metals in vaccines contributing to autism SHOULD turn out to be true that would create an ironic circle of misery around this entire God-awful CCPvirus affair.

  47. Dongguan John–I mean no disrespect to your child but if some of the theories about heavy metals in vaccines contributing to autism SHOULD turn out to be true that would create an ironic circle of misery around this entire God-awful CCPvirus affair.

  48. In any case ,as we know, he was opposed to the lock down anyway…

    Dominic is retrieved from the ditch. Thanks, Nemania.

  49. There’s a newly-created Dominic Cummings Appreciation Group on Facebook.

    I also came across a post on Facebook last night that suggests that if Cummings goes, then the MSM will start rolling out dirt on David Frost within a few days. Sadly I have now lost the link to it.

    Boris needs to grow a pair and say “ENOUGH! This is not about Covid, this is about Brexit. We had a referndum- you lost. We had an election- you lost. We had another elction- you lost. Now let’s move forward”

  50. Mr Ecks,

    She didn’t get any vaccinations in China. All those were done in Hong Kong or Philippines, I wouldn’t trust a Chinese vaccination on a cat let alone my child.

  51. ” …but doing a 60 mile round trip just to see if your eyesight is O.K?”

    I’ll be doing something very similar, hopefully in the not too distant future. I’m well aware that the requirements for driving a car are very different from most other activities. You have to take up a lot of information, mostly through sight. Constantly changing focus from the far distance, to close ahead, with continual glances at the instruments. Once travel restrictions are lifted I’ll be wanting to drive from home in Southern Spain to Portugal & France. Maybe even the UK. I’m not stupid enough to just get in the car & head off for a 5 or 6 six hour drive after hardly using it for more than two months. I’ll take a run to somewhere half an or so away so I’ve the option of aborting & returning home if I find I’m not up to it. And that’s without a recent illness behind me. Safe driving depends on situational awareness & you can find your abilities in that direction can degrade very quickly if you’re not functioning as well as you think you are or you’re out of practise. Absent some sort of simulator, what other options do you have but try it & see?

  52. @bis

    The “practice run” didn’t sound daft to me either and I’m in the same school of thought as you re driving. Everyone I’ve talked to about it in person though has been incredulous about it. Some things just sound really bad. The media have got very fixated on the “testing my eyesight” line (even though I agree with you that “getting your eye in” is important before a long journey).

    @BIND

    While it sounded Cummings was thinking how to be careful about preventing infection to others, there were some flaws, or at least risks, in the plan. For example if any of them needed medical attention (which turned out to be the case) you’re both putting extra pressure on the local medical facilities and risking spreading the disease to them. Regardless of how well he managed the risks it won’t be making him flavour of the month in Durham, if they’ve had the same reaction to people fleeing from London as Devonians have, and more so for fleeing while infected.

    In terms of political damage, a balanced and fair-minded analysis of “whether the hypocrisy accusation is accurate” is less important than whether he appeared to be hypocritical in the eyes of a public who have been asked to make very large sacrifices. The verdict on that is looking pretty damning for him even among Tory and Brexit voters (though to a lesser extent there than other groups) according to the polling and MPs’ inboxes. That’s why I think the theory “it’s all being driven by Brexit” is mostly true for the media response, not so much the public one.

  53. The media have got very fixated on the “testing my eyesight” line

    Where does this “testing my eyesight” bollocks come from anyway? I watched the press conference, and all I recall him saying is that he felt shit and his missus suggested he try a local drive to see if he’s up to driving in general.

  54. MBE–The UK public have revealed themselves as 1/3 to 1/2 bedwetters who are to lazy to look for info away from the Glass Toilet/DTPress. Even those supporting Brexit.

    If Johnson allows public opinion to phase him he won’t survive the forthcoming ruin-rage storm as said bedwetters want someone to blame other than their own cowardice and lazy unwillingness to do some research.

    Yes Blojo IS to blame–but only as part of 650 other cunts who all bought and fucking drowned themselves in the Kool-Aid. I would be delighted to see Bloj destroyed except that there is NO possible replacement(and no not a chance of Steve Baker replacing him)who is not VASTLY worse and even bigger remainiac scum. So I will be obliged for the sake of Brexit to try and defend (where I can) a cove I despise against lying scum. Who will–with MSM assistance–try to claim they knew all along what a bad idea the LD was.

  55. @BIW

    Here’s the complete extract of the transcript related to Barnard Castle. He doesn’t quite say “I thought my eyesight might be dodgy so I went for a long drive with my young family in the back to see if I crashed and killed them all or not” which is what he is being derided for in the media, but he certainly seeded the idea and I’m sure a competent PR person would have flagged it as something he should think about rephrasing.

    On Sunday 12 April, 15 days after I had first displayed symptoms, I decided to return to work. My wife was very worried, particularly given my eyesight seemed to have been affected by the disease. She didn’t want to risk a nearly 300-mile drive with our child, given how ill I had been. We agreed that we should go for a short drive to see if I could drive safely. We drove for roughly half an hour and ended up on the outskirts of Barnard Castle town. We did not visit the castle. We did not walk around the town. We parked by a river. My wife and I discussed the situation. We agreed that I could drive safely, we should turn around, go home. I felt a bit sick. We walked about 10 to 15 metres from the car to the river bank nearby. We sat there for about 15 minutes. We had no interactions with anybody. I felt better. We returned the car. An elderly gentleman walking nearby appeared to recognise me. My wife wished him Happy Easter from a distance, but we had no other interaction.

    We headed home. On the way home, our child needed the toilet. He was in the back seat of the car. We pulled over to the side of the road, my wife and child jumped out into the woods by the side of the road. They were briefly outside. I briefly joined them. They played for a little bit and then I got out of the car, went outside. We were briefly in the woods. We saw some people at a distance. But at no point did we break any social distancing rules. We then got back in the car and went home.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dominic-cummings-statement-speech-transcript-durham-full-text-read-lockdown-a9531856.html

    The other thing he’s being accused of lying over by a lot of “ordinary people” is how come his kid needed the loo on this short trip but not the long drive. Again a detail that struck me as just one of life’s little vagaries, particularly if you take more care before the long trip to ensure the kid’s properly toileted and not overwatered. But for many people it has rendered the account non-credible. Funny what folk pick up on.

  56. @MBE “Everyone I’ve talked to about it in person though has been incredulous about it. ”
    Yeah, well. Sort of people who’s radius of action in normal circs doesn’t extend much more than the supermarket. Know people like that. They’re also the sort of tossers jump in a car to do 300 miles as if they’re doing the same supermarket run. Women are favourite. Find they’re low on coolant or oil when the red light comes on after an hour. Or smack someone up the arse in rain coz the tyres are half flat. Coz checking is always someone else’s responsibility
    The other reason for a test spin is to ensure the car’s up for it. Especially if it’s had little or no use. And especially at times like this. When a recovery might be uncertain and there’s no hotels to check into if you can’t make your destination.
    Cummins strikes me as an outside-the-box thinker. And that’s what a lot of this is. Thinking outside the usual, every day box.

  57. The other point, as I’ve said before, is for a lot if not most people, quarantine lockdown is for other people to stringently abide by. Individuals & individual families are of course different because they’re exceptional. Like the Welsh Windbag’s political heir, to whom it was imperative to wish said Windbag a happy birthday in person. The people bitchin’ about Cummins will be the same people who were doing their own bit of lockdown breaking when their priorities overruled it. But they got away with it.

  58. “The people bitchin’ about Cummins will be the same people who were doing their own bit of lockdown breaking when their priorities overruled it. But they got away with it.”

    I echo those thoughts. Who are the real “hypocrites” here?

  59. @bis

    Yes, agree. Reasonable chap on another forum said the same – an RAC man had told him when he’d not long passed his test to make sure he took a 30 minute ride before starting any long journey, particularly if you’re out of practice and the car’s been sitting idle. And an AA man told me to make sure I went down a dual carriageway at 70 mph every so often if I’d just been driving locally for a bit. Before a big trip or if I’m out of practice, after checking the fluids and tyres and lights it’s nice to do an unpressured drive along a mix of residential streets (check the brakes, get a feel for the clutch and gear changes again), a bit flat out down an A road (check for vibrations), maybe some windy country lanes (see how the steering feels, in the evening I find that’s the best environment to check the headlight beam’s adjusted properly). If that’s all good then I’m far more confident the important trip’s going to be fine too.

  60. MBE,

    “That’s why I think the theory “it’s all being driven by Brexit” is mostly true for the media response, not so much the public one.”

    Yes, I think that’s fair.

    I think the counter to that is that there’s often this period after a Shock! Horor! Outrage! story where facts get established, opinions and thoughts get shared. The first couple of days, everyone is fucking mental. Everyone has their pitchforks out for the person responsible. And you have a period of more information, debate and reflection and a lot of the time it just disappears. Sometimes, the person comes out of it smelling of roses.

    Couple of weeks time, people might have got it. Or they won’t care. In a year’s time, we might just look at this period as madness. Probably wildly unnecessary and people breaking lockdowns? Who cares? On top of that, this is one small issue to people. People might be overwhelmingly saying that Cummings should be sacked, but that’s mostly because YouGov put the question in front of them. Do they care that much, compared to their jobs or immigration?

  61. This happened weeks ago. At what point were the media cognisant of it?
    To me it looks the media were sitting on this until it could be brought out to do maximal damage to Johnson & Cummings.
    The confected outrage over this is all about making the Conservatives the bitch of the Progressives.
    If the Prime Minister caves over this then all the usual suspects will walk over him for ever more.
    He needs to take a leaf out of Trump’s playbook, treat the media and the Civil Service as the enemies they are, and start dishing it out.
    You can’t win any battles by purely playing defensively.

  62. @bis May 27, 2020 at 9:40 am

    Agree. Shortish journey first so it’s easy to abort and return – it’s called a “test drive”, “test flight”….

    Cummings critics say he should have gone for the full 260 mile drive on a wish & prayer, then crash or crawl to hard shoulder and sleep

    @bis May 27, 2020 at 1:09 pm

    Cummins strikes me as an outside-the-box thinker. And that’s what a lot of this is. Thinking outside the usual, every day box

    Yep, agree

    I used to regularly do non-stop leave at 9pm London-Edinburgh drive (& reverse) with maybe one dash & gas/pee stop. Car always checked out before

    Once, on bike, I turned back after 80 miles – freezing fog. Trucker at petrol station said he’d been told same all way

  63. @BlokeInBrum

    Yes +100

    @MBE

    “What if he” “Might have” “Could have” “Risked spreading if”…
    …”Devon” “Durham” Devon is empty, Durham is inhabited and not as insular

    You are suffering from CDS and paranoia

  64. @ Newmania
    If the two boys are friends of your children then they must be barely onto the autistic spectrum, more likely Asperger’s (except that we’re not supposed to call people “suffering from Asperger’s syndrome) any more. Look up the meaning of “aut” as a prefix. All autistic children are unique individuals but one of the “defining” characteristics which led to the terminology was that autistic children do not have neurotypical friends.
    You *think* you know what dealing with an autistic child is like. I see no evidence that you have any idea what a moderate or severe case is like.

  65. “The people bitchin’ about Cummins will be the same people who were doing their own bit of lockdown breaking when their priorities overruled it.”

    A good friend of mine sent me a daft picture of DC with some caption or other making a dig about his long trip during lockdown. I replied something along the lines of ‘Yes, a bit like a long trip down the M4!’, being a reference to the trip I took on her behalf in order to get frozen food supplies to her 95 yo mother (who lives alone and a long way from her daughter, but close to me) 2 days after the lockdown was brought in. I didn’t care about breaking the lockdown, I was just in a car on my own for 4 hours thats all. Her response was ‘That wasn’t during the lockdown!’, which it most definitely was. People conveniently forget their own peccadilloes. I’d be surprised if there’s one person who hasn’t technically broken the lockdown during the last 2 months. Just about everyone I know has stretched the rules a bit on some way or other.

    The lockdown should instead have been the slogan ‘Don’t be a twat’, which would have covered what was needed.

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