Politics

Dominic Cummings – Durham police open investigation into his movements

Durham police have begun their investigation into Dominic Cummings’ alleged breaking of lockdown rules, reports the Guardian.

A witness has been interviewed by detectives, while the officers also have access to software to track the movement of a vehicle used by the prime minister’s top aide.

Last night at around 7.30pm the police visited eyewitness Robin Lees, a retired chemistry teacher, at 7.30pm not long after Cummings’ Downing Street press conference ended.

Lees said: “They were very thorough, asking every detail of what I saw. They were not in uniform.

“They asked me a lot about my background. They wanted to know exactly what time it was. They wanted to know if it was a clear day and did I know what Cummings looked like.”

Durham police said on Monday: “We can confirm that, over the last few days, Durham constabulary has received further information and complaints from members of the public and we are reviewing and examining that information.”

Clear breach of the rules

Wales’s health minister has said he would resign if he drove to the other side of the UK during lockdown like the Prime Minister’s senior adviser Dominic Cummings.

Vaughan Gething said he would not add to the voices calling for Mr Cummings to be sacked, but described his actions during England’s stay-at-home phase as a “clear breach of the rules”.

His comments on Tuesday came as new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed there has now been more than 2,000 deaths in Wales involving coronavirus.

Mr Gething told the Welsh Government’s daily press briefing: “If I had driven to the other end of the country to see a family member when I thought my wife could be potentially symptomatic with Covid-19, that would have been a clear breach of the rules in place at the time and my position as a minister would have been untenable.

“It isn’t for me to make choices about the Prime Minister’s senior special adviser.

“What does matter to me is not so much the fate of Dominic Cummings and his job, it’s actually whether people across all four nations, including here in Wales, are going to continue to follow the rules to keep us all safe.

“My real concern is the loss of public trust that comes from the ever-changing circus of the last few days. Some clarity in the rules and expectation and a clear understanding that the rules are there for all of us.”

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Joe Mellor

Head of Content

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