- JAMIE WALLIS, MP FOR BRIDGEND, DEFENDS TOP TORY AIDE DOMINIC CUMMINGS WHO LEFT HIS LONDON HOME ON 31ST MARCH WHEN HIS WIFE HAD COVID-19 SYMPTOMS AND DROVE 260 MILES TO STAY WITH HIS PARENTS.
- WALLIS CLAIMS IN TWEET THAT CUMMINGS’ ACTIONS WERE “ENTIRELY CONSISTENT WITH UK GOVERNMENT ADVICE” AND SAYS PEOPLE WHO DISAGREE ARE “OVERLOOKING” CAVEATS IN THE GUIDELINES. BUT THE INSTRUCTION WAS CLEAR THAT IF ANYONE IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD HAD COVID SYMPTOMS, YOU MUST SELF ISOLATE FOR 14 DAYS.
- ONLY 4 TORY MPS OUT OF 14 IN WALES HAVE DEFENDED CUMMINGS ACTIONS, AS VOTERS TURN ON ‘HYPOCRITE’ JOHNSON AND COVID CRISIS ENGULFS THE GOVERNMENT.
By SC Cook
A Welsh Tory MP has said that the actions of Dominic Cummings have always been allowed within the UK Government’s strict lock-down rules, and implied that parents with Covid-19 symptoms who self isolated and looked after children were “overlooking” caveats in the advice, and could have gone to grandparents for childcare help all along.
Jamie Wallis, MP for Bridgend, Tweeted his defence of Boris Johnson’s top aide on Saturday following the story breaking that Dominic Cummings had travelled from London to Durham on 31st March, a day after saying he was self-isolating with Covid symptoms.
Wallis’ comments will infuriate many people who took incredibly seriously the clear instruction to stay at home and isolate entirely for 14 days if a member of their household had Covid symptoms. People in Wales and elsewhere have missed the births and funerals after adhering to the rules, with some not even being able to say goodbye to loved ones who have died.
Yesterday, after fresh reports emerged showing that Cummings had also made a long trip to Barnard Castle when he was supposed to be in isolation on 12 April, PM Boris Johnson defended Cummings by claiming he had acted with ‘integrity’, did not break lock-down rules and followed his instincts as a father.
But the stay-at-home advice was clear and this was an “instruction” not “a request” according to health secretary Matt Hancock at the time, who has also defended Mr Cummings.
Supporters of the government claim the journey was allowed in the rules because he was transporting a child, but they cannot point to anywhere in the guidance where it says people were allowed to do this in order to use elderly relatives for childcare. They have not denied that Cummings made a subsequent trip to Durham when he had no need for childcare or that he made a day trip 30 miles from where he was staying when he was supposed to be in self-isolation.
The PM’s statement has been met with real anger by ordinary people, including many Tory voters who are contacting the government’s own MPs.
In the Coronavirus in Wales Updates Facebook page – a group with 40,000 members run by Wales Online, one post about the PM’s statement generated over 300 comments yesterday, the majority of which were overwhelmingly hostile Some simply called the PM a ‘hypocrite’ while others said it was one rule for the government and another for everybody else.
A woman from Lampeter who spoke to voice.wales said she was furious with Johnson. Tasarla Logan told us: “Thousands of people have lost loved ones. They’ve wanted to be there at their bedside while they’re dying and they haven’t been allowed. I think it’s outrageous. I think the Prime Minister should resign for turning a blind eye and I think Mr Cummings should be sacked. Because the public who’ve broke lock-down rules, they’ve been heavily fined… it’s just not fair.”
Tasarla said she was particularly upset because, following a serious sexual assault that took place in her home in Lampeter, she had asked to be moved by the council for her protection, but was told this was not possible due to lock-down rules. “That’s why i’m really, really angry” she told us.
The government is now engulfed in a major crisis. On Monday, the Tory backing Daily Mail ran with the headline “What Planet Are They On” and attacked Boris Johnson directly.
In a sign of how the issue is causing tension among the Tory party, most of their MPs in Wales have stayed completely silent on the issue, despite instructions from Tory whips to come out and publicly back Cummings Only 4 out of 14 Welsh Tory MPs tweeted in defence of Cummings over the weekend. As well as Jamie Wallis, they were Craig Willams (Montgomeryshire), Rob Robert (Delyn) and Fay Jones (Brecon and Radnor).
There is astonishment that the PM’s own guidance has been left in ruins in order to save Mr Cummings. A member of the Government’s advisory group on behavioural science slammed Johnson, saying that his statement wrecked the lock-down advice and thus risked unleashing the virus further into society.
But the issue has also become a focus for anger over the UK Government’s disastrous response to the pandemic in general, from the huge death toll to lack of PPE for key workers and failures over testing.
Johnson is now insisting that schools in England must re-open on June 1st, sparking a furious backlash among teaches, parents and unions who say even the government’s own safety tests have not been met.
The Prime Minister’s entire strategy for dealing with the most deadly pandemic in a century has been torn apart to protect one aide. Now his authority is under more pressure than at any time since he took office.
