Dominic Cummings

Dominic Cummings Assumed office 24 July 2019Prime MinisterPreceded byPosition established ( as ) to the In office 2010–2014Education SecretaryPreceded byElena NarozanskiPersonal detailsBornDominic Mckenzie Cummings 25 November 1971 NationalityBritishSpouse(s)Children1EducationOccupationPolitical adviserKnown for to Education Secretary , 2010–2014; of , 2015–2016; to Prime Minister , 2019–presentWebsiteDominic Mckenzie Cummings (born 25 November 1971) is a British political strategist who was appointed a to in July 2019.

From 2007 to 2014, he was a to , including the time that Gove served as , before he (Gove) was dismissed by Prime Minister . From 2015 to 2016, Cummings was of the successful campaign, an organisation opposed to continued British membership of the , that took an active part in the campaign for .

In May 2020 there were calls for Cummings to resign after he travelled to visit his parents' estate in during the lockdown. The prime minister, Boris Johnson, supported Cummings saying he had acted "responsibly, legally and with integrity". On 25 May 2020, launched an official police investigation to establish the facts concerning any potential breach of the law or regulations.

Contents Early life Cummings was born in on 25 November 1971. His father, Robert, had a varied career, primarily as an oil rig project manager for , the construction firm. His mother, Morag, a university graduate, was a teacher and behavioural specialist. , a former , was his uncle.

After attending state primary school, he was privately educated at the 600 year old and , where he studied under , graduating in 1994 with a First in Ancient and Modern History. One of his professors has described him to the as "fizzing with ideas, unconvinced by any received set of views about anything". He was "something like a – someone determined to bring down things that don’t work." Also in his youth, he worked at Klute, a nightclub owned by his uncle in Durham.

After university, Cummings moved to Yeltsin's post-Soviet from 1994 to 1997, working on various projects. In one Russian venture, he worked for a group attempting to set up an airline connecting in southern Russia to .

Political career 1999–2015 From 1999 to 2002, Cummings was campaign director at , the campaign against the UK joining the . He then became Director of Strategy for leader for eight months in 2002, aiming to modernise the Conservative Party (of which he was not a member); however he soon left in frustration at the introduction of what he saw as half-measures, labelling Duncan Smith "incompetent". With James Frayne, he founded the New Frontiers Foundation think-tank as its director; it launched in December 2003 and closed in March 2005. Cummings was described as a "key figure" in the successful campaign against a in 2004, after which he moved to his father's farm in .

Cummings worked for Conservative politician from 2007 to January 2014, first in opposition and then, after ’s departure as a (spad) in the (DfE). He was Gove's chief of staff, an appointment blocked by until his own resignation. In this capacity, Cummings wrote an essay titled "Some thoughts on education and political priorities", about transforming Britain into a "meritocratic technopolis"; the essay was described by journalist as "either mad, bad or brilliant – and probably a bit of all three".

At the DfE, Cummings became known for his blunt style and "not suffering fools gladly"; he railed against the "blob", the informal alliance of senior civil servants and teachers who, in Cummings's opinion, sought to frustrate his attempts at reform. Cummings was also outspoken regarding other senior politicians, describing 's proposals on as "Dreamed up on the back of a cigarette packet", and as "thick as mince" and "lazy as a toad". Patrick Wintour described the Cummings–Gove working relationship: "Gove, polite to a fault, would often feign ignorance of his adviser’s methods, but knew full well the dark arts that Cummings deployed to get his master’s way". In 2014, described Cummings as a "career psychopath", although the two had never met.

During his time as an official working for Gove, Cummings received a warning from the (ICO) for use of private Gmail accounts to deal with government business, saying it should be 'actively discouraged'. The ICO uncovered an email from Cummings in which he said: 'i will not answer any further emails to my official DfE account or from conservatives.com – i will only answer things that come from Gmail accounts from people who I know who they are' [sic].

In 2014, Cummings left his job as a special adviser and noted that he might endeavour to open a . He had previously worked for the charity that advises free schools, as a volunteer from June 2009 and then as a paid freelancer from July to December 2010.

Campaign to leave the European Union (2015–2019) See also: Cummings became campaign director of upon the creation of the organisation in October 2015. He is credited with having created the Vote Leave slogan, "Take back control", and with being the leading strategist of the campaign. His campaign strategy was summarised as: "Do talk about immigration"; "Do talk about business"; "Don’t make the referendum final"; "Do keep mentioning the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the over-reach of the ". Board member of Vote Leave tried to remove Cummings and merge Vote Leave with the other campaign, . Cummings and Vote Leave CEO left the board in February 2016 following reported infighting. The resulted in a 51.9% vote to "leave" the European Union. Cummings was praised alongside Elliott as being one of the masterminds of the campaign. He was named as one of " 500 2016" people of influence.

He advised on its communications strategy and senior recruitment up to September 2018. The Labour Party opposition spokesman said the links between Cummings, the health secretary and Babylon were "increasingly murky and highly irresponsible".

In March 2019, the recommended the House issue an admonishment for after Cummings failed to appear before the inquiry into claims of false news during the referendum campaign. The resolution admonishing him was passed by resolution of the House of Commons on 2 April 2019.

In July 2017, the lawyer and political commentator, , asked Cummings via Twitter, "Is there anything which could now happen (or not happen) which would make you now wish Leave had not won the referendum result?" Cummings replied, "Lots! I said before REF was dumb idea, other things should have been tried 1st."

Senior Adviser to Boris Johnson (Since 2019) Effigy of Cummings as 's puppet-master at the march, in October 2019On 24 July 2019, Cummings was appointed as a Senior Adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

On his appointment, noted that at a conference in 2017 Cummings had argued that: "People think, and by the way I think most people are right: 'The Tory party is run by people who basically don't care about people like me'"; and that "Tory MPs largely do not care about these poorer people. They don't care about the NHS. And the public has kind of cottoned on to that".

reported on Cummings's past rivalry with from the , and quoted Farage as saying that: "He has never liked me. He can't stand the . I can't see him coming to any accommodation with anyone. He has huge personal enmity with the true believers in Brexit".

Cummings was accused of hypocrisy when, not long after his appointment, it was revealed that a farm that he co-owns had received €250,000 (£235,000) in . Cummings had previously described such subsidies as "absurd", complaining that some of them were handed out to "very rich landowners to do stupid things".

In November 2019, a raised questions about Cummings' interactions during his years in Russia; reported that Whitehall was keeping certain government business from Cummings.

As is customary procedure, Cummings temporarily resigned his role when for the , along with most special advisers, but was briefly reinstated to assist the government following .

According to , Cummings played a role in the Conservative Party's victory in the election, despite having passed the party's running of the election campaign to . After the election, Cummings called for people interested in working in government to contact him through a private address. In a blog post, he said he wanted to recruit data scientists, software developers and economists to help improve the performance of government, making his own role "within a year largely redundant". The recruitment drive was reported to have resulted in several appointments on short-term contracts, including , Professor and, briefly, . Sabisky resigned in February 2020 following complaints about his previously expressed views on race, intelligence and eugenics.

Controversies Civil servant's bullying case In 2012, a senior female civil servant received a payout of £25,000 in a bullying case she took against Cummings and a senior member of Michael Gove's team, when Cummings was a special adviser at the Department for Education.

Sonia Khan's dismissal In August 2019 Cummings fired Sonia Khan, one of the Treasury's , without the permission or knowledge of . The dismissal occurred during preparations for , which Cummings had planned and which would limit the time in which MPs could block a no-deal Brexit. Cummings believed that Khan had been dishonest about her recent contact with her ex-boss, previous Chancellor and no-deal opponent , and, according to an unconfirmed report, fired her after summoning her to 10 Downing Street and viewing recent activity on her phones, and then asked an armed officer to enter the building and escort Khan off the premises. Former said that the should hold an inquiry and that "it was wrong of the police to get involved". Dal Babu, former of the Metropolitan police, said it was "a shocking abuse of armed officers" and that the police should be asking questions of both Cummings and the Prime Minister about an abuse of process. The following month, reported that Cummings had "seized new powers to sack ministers' advisers", as their new employment contracts stipulated that responsibility for disciplinary matters rested with the Prime Minister's as well as with their respective ministers.

COVID-19 pandemic In March 2020, it was reported in that during a private engagement the previous month, Cummings had claimed that the government's strategy towards the coronavirus was "herd immunity, protect the economy and if that means some pensioners die, too bad". The spokesman for decried the article as "a highly defamatory fabrication" which "includes a series of apparent quotes from meetings which are invented". On 30 March, Cummings displayed symptoms of COVID-19 during the and was reported to be self-isolating. This was three days after Johnson tested positive for the virus. On 27 April, it emerged that Cummings sat in on meetings of the (SAGE), which advises the cabinet on coronavirus response. Cummings urged a faster and encouraged the scientists to support the closure of pubs and restaurants.

A joint investigation by the and alleged on 22 May that police spoke to Cummings after he had been seen in the city of in late March and early April, having travelled to visit his parents' home, 264 miles (425 km) from his usual residence in London, despite exhibiting coronavirus symptoms amid the government lockdown. On 23 May, police clarified their involvement, saying that Cummings's father had contacted them, rather than that they had contacted and spoken to Cummings, and that they had discussed, by telephone, matters relating to security. Following publication of the reports, the leader in Westminster, and the acting leader of the , , called for Cummings to resign if the allegations were to be confirmed, while said No 10 Downing Street needed to provide a "very swift explanation" for his actions.

It was later alleged that Cummings had made a second trip to Durham during lockdown after returning to, and being photographed in, London. Cummings denied these allegations, and Downing Street said it would not waste time answering such allegations from "campaigning newspapers". There were further allegations that Cummings had left the home where he was staying in Durham, to visit the town of 30 miles (48 km) away, on 12 April. Ex-chairman of the (ERG) Conservative MP said: "The country can't afford this nonsense, this pantomime, Dominic should go and we should move on and deal with things that matter in people's lives." Defending Cummings, Boris Johnson, as part of the televised coronavirus update on 24 May, said he had acted "responsibly, legally and with integrity".

Amid growing calls for Cummings to resign or be fired, it was announced Cummings would give a public announcement at 4pm, 25th May, in the 10 Downing Street rose garden. Both the announcement and the location were met with criticism, with saying "Cummings speaking in the Rose Garden is like Monica Lewinsky giving her side of the story from the Oval Office."

Political views Cummings has described his political views as "not Tory (Conservative), libertarian, 'populist' or anything else".

In January 2016, five months prior to the in the United Kingdom, Cummings said:

> "Extremists are on the rise in Europe and are being fuelled unfortunately by the Euro project and by the centralisation of power in Brussels. It is increasingly important that Britain offers an example of civilised, democratic, liberal self-government."

At an conference in 2017, Cummings stated his belief that the EU, rather than solving issues, was fuelling radicalism and extremism due to a perceived lack of control over issues such as economy and immigration:

> "For me ... the worst-case scenario for Europe is a return to 1930s-style protectionism and extremism. And to me the EU project, the Eurozone project, are driving the growth of extremism. The single most important reason, really, for why I wanted to get out of the EU is I think that it will drain the poison of a lot of political debates ... and would be finished. Once there’s democratic control of immigration policy, immigration will go back to being a second- or third-order issue."

Cummings has frequently attacked what he sees as a London-centred political system that failed to countenance the UK's voting to leave the European Union. In December 2019, following the , which returned an 80-seat Conservative majority, he stated:

> "After the shock of the referendum, MPs and journalists should have taken a breath and had a lot of self-reflection [on] why they misunderstood what was going on in the country. Instead a lot of people just doubled down on their own ideas and f***ed it up even more. That’s why something like this happens against expectations."

He has expressed his dismay that many voters' concerns, particularly in Northern England and the Midlands, have been ignored by both the Conservatives and Labour and 'taken for granted'. He criticised 's attempt at re-balancing inherent structural deficiencies within the British economy following de-industrialisation with a system of tax credits.

Cummings has claimed never to have been a member of a political party. Despite this, he was second in a list by of the 'Top 100 Most Influential Conservatives of 2019'. Although frequently portrayed as on the right of the political spectrum, he has expressed dismay for the led by , describing the group as "useful idiots" for the argument to remain in the EU and that they "should be treated like a metastasising tumour and excised from the UK body politic." He notably sought to isolate Nigel Farage from the official Vote Leave campaign in the 2016 referendum believing his presence to not be helpful in winning over undecided voters.

Personal life In December 2011, Cummings married , sister of his friend Jack Wakefield, former director of the Foundation. Mary Wakefield has worked at the weekly magazine for decades, since Boris Johnson was editor, and is now commissioning editor. She is the daughter of , of in . Her mother is Katherine Wakefield, née Baring, elder daughter of .

In 2016, they had a son, Alexander Cedd, named after .

Cummings is reportedly an admirer of , , , and U.S. fighter pilot and military strategist . Journalist claimed that Cummings "is a , speaks Russian, and is passionately interested in ", while in reported that ", maths and Bismarck are his three obsessions."

Depiction Cummings was portrayed by in the 2019 drama .

Registered companies Cummings is registered as a director of the non-trading company Klute Ltd, which formerly owned the Klute nightclub in Durham, and Dynamic Maps Ltd, an information technology consultancy. He runs another company called North Wood that "tries to solve problems" related to management, politics and communications.

References Further reading External links Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

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Dominic Cummings departure: 'Only a matter of time' - ITV News

AdvertisementPlay Video Dominic Cummings gives statement amid lockdown journey row – watch live (now) and (earlier)

Mon 25 May 2020 15.52 BSTFirst published on Mon 25 May 2020 08.26 BST

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The Faculty of Public Health, the UK’s professional membership body for public health, has said the government’s response to the saga has “undermined essential public health messaging”.

It added that it supported “at the very least an inquiry into the matter”.

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Alastair Campbell, former spin doctor to Tony Blair, has expressed concern that Dominic Cummings’s press conference is taking place in the Downing Street rose garden this afternoon. He tweeted:

> Cummings speaking in the Rose Garden is like Monica Lewinsky giving her side of the story from the Oval Office.

Heaven knows how the cabinet secretary has allowed this. But hey – in Trump Britain all norms rules and standards are collapsing.

Campbell said he had written to UK cabinet secretary and head of the civil service Mark Sedwill to ask: “1. Why is it being held there? 2. Assurance no civil servants involved in support of the event. 3. Any staging and other costs not borne by taxpayer. 4. Investigation of clear breach of special adviser rules on political controversy.”

> ALASTAIR CAMPBELL (@campbellclaret)Cummings speaking in the Rose Garden is like Monica Lewinsky giving her side of the story from the Oval Office. Heaven knows how the cabinet secretary has allowed this. But hey - in Trump Britain all norms rules and standards are collapsing.

Updatedat 3.50pm BST

Rowena Mason

Dominic Cummings is to give a statement about accusations he broke the lockdown, as at least 20 Conservative MPs urged to make him quit or apologise.

In an unprecedented move for a senior political adviser, Cummings is to address criticism of his actions and take questions on Monday afternoon, following an outpouring of anger among the public, MPs, bishops, police, scientists and medics.

The prime minister at a defiant press conference on Sunday, saying it had been within the rules for Cummings to drive his family 264 miles to his parents’ estate in Durham while his wife was suffering from coronavirus symptoms.

is boiling over, however, and members of the public have been sending furious emails pointing out the sacrifices they have made during the lockdown.

Downing Street is still to answer questions, including whether Cummings stopped at any service stations en route to Durham, potentially infecting other travellers when the whole family should have been in isolation, and whether he later made a 30-mile day trip from Durham to Barnard Castle with his family at a time when non-essential journeys were banned.

Read more

Jim Waterson

When the Guardian/Observer and Mirror published about Dominic Cummings potentially breaching lockdown rules, Downing Street refused to respond in detail and instead dismissed the outlets as politically motivated “campaigning newspapers”.

It is less clear whether No 10 holds the same dismissive view about the Conservative-supporting Daily Mail, which on Monday used a front-page editorial to demand Cummings is sacked and ran the story across 10 pages of furious coverage.

Under the headline “What planet are they on?”, the newspaper’s editorial said Cummings “violated the spirit and letter of the lockdown … giving every selfish person a licence to play fast and loose with public health”.

> Front Pages Today (@ukpapers)What Planet Are They On? Boris brazenly backs No 10 svengali who flouted PM's own strict lockdown rules .... - 🗞

Just months after enthusiastically cheering to victory in the general election, the Mail directly attacked the prime minister for sticking by his chief aide: “Neither man has displayed a scintilla of contrition for this breach of trust. Do they think we are fools? For the good of the government and the nation, Mr Cummings must resign. Or the prime minister must sack him. No ifs, no buts.”

In the process, the newspaper set up a test of its power in the face of a government that has repeatedly made clear its disdain for traditional media outlets. It also serves as a check on whether print newspaper front pages still hold sway in an era of declining circulations and whether the Mail has broken the old newspaper editor’s mantra that you should never launch a campaign that you are likely to lose.

Read more Updatedat 3.51pm BST

The Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen has said people might be “surprised” by what Cummings has to say in his “unprecedented” public statement this afternoon.

> Many have judged without hearing his side of the story. That will change this afternoon and will be unprecedented.

It’s possible that people will be surprised.

> Andrew Bridgen (@ABridgen)Many have judged Dominic Cummings without hearing his side of the story. That will change this afternoon and will be unprecedented. It’s possible that people will be surprised.

Joel Golby

As reviews for Barnard Castle go, “I drove 260 miles, broke a pandemic-enforced nationwide lockdown that I personally helped introduce, risked the health of my extended family, rocked the stability of my own career, and torpedoed the reputation of both myself and the actual prime minister of the United Kingdom just to go there and see the ” takes some beating.

I have never wanted to see a small Teesdale market town so much in my squalid little life. I cannot imagine the precious selection of keychains the gift shops there must have. I would risk it all for Barnard Castle.

If you’ve somehow missed all this (imagine I am gesturing weakly at Dominic Cummings’s house, where a crowd of agitated neighbours, un-socially distanced TV journalists and – obviously, always – some sort of stunt van, are all assembled in waiting), then the headline news right now is: a joint investigation by the Guardian and the Daily Mirror found that, that Gollum-but-if-he-dressed-from-the-assorted-bags-in-the-backroom-of-a-charity-shop one from the government, broke lockdown in the hardest way possible by driving from London to Durham when his wife had coronavirus.

Then – after a perfunctory WhatsApp-coordinated round of Tory ministers tweeting their “it wasn’t that bad, really” defences of the senior adviser – a further claim: once in Durham, as coronavirus infections crested nationwide, Cummings zigged out on a nice little day trip to the Castle, then back to London, then allegedly back again to Durham, where an eyewitness says they saw him among some woodlands calling the bluebells there “lovely”. Ladies and gentlemen, we got him?

Joel Golby Read more Updatedat 3.15pm BST

This is Jessica Murray, I’m back on the blog for the rest of the day and will be covering Dominic Cummings’ press conference at 4pm.

Thanks to everyone who has been sending in messages with your comments and thoughts, I’m doing my best to work through them all and get back to as many people as I can.

Boris Johnson’s chief adviser will make a public statement following calls for him to be sacked over allegations he breached coronavirus lockdown restrictions at 4pm.

> Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar)Dominic Cummings will make his statement in the Downing Street Rose Garden, No 10 confirms.

He will take questions from the press - including .

Updatedat 2.55pm BST

Durham police confirm more complaints about Cummings A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said: “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.”

Updatedat 2.58pm BST

NHS England has announced 59 new deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 25,750.

Of the 59 new deaths announced on Sunday: - 19 occurred on 24 May - 28 occurred on 23 May - five occurred on 22 May

The remaining seven new deaths took place between 16-21 May. NHS England releases updated figures each day showing the dates of every coronavirus-related death in hospitals in England, often including previously uncounted deaths that took place several days or even weeks ago. This is because of the time it takes for deaths to be confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19, for post mortem examinations to be processed and for data from the tests to be validated.

The figures published today by NHS England show 8 April continues to have the highest number for the most hospital deaths on a single day, with a current total of 891.

Updatedat 2.55pm BST

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close next prev info-button is to give a statement about accusations he broke the lockdown, as at least 20 Conservative MPs urged Boris Johnson to make him quit or apologise.

In an unprecedented move for a senior political adviser, Cummings is likely to address criticism of his actions and take questions on Monday afternoon, following an outpouring of anger among the public, MPs, bishops, police, scientists and medics.

The prime minister at a defiant press conference on Sunday, saying it had been within the rules for Cummings to drive his family 264 miles to his parents’ estate in Durham while his wife was suffering from coronavirus symptoms.

Johnson claimed his adviser had acted “responsibly, legally, and with integrity” and had followed his instincts as a father by travelling to seek possible backup childcare for his four-year-old son.

is boiling over, however, and members of the public have been sending furious emails pointing out the sacrifices they have made during the lockdown.

Read more Downing Street is still to answer questions, including whether Cummings stopped at any service stations en route to Durham, potentially infecting other travellers when the whole family should have been in isolation, and whether he later made a 30-mile day trip from Durham to Barnard Castle with his family at a time when non-essential journeys were banned.

No 10 confirmed that Cummings would give a statement and take questions on Monday but did not say when.

The prime minister was due to hold a cabinet meeting on Monday to discuss the lifting of the lockdown but plans to ease restrictions, such as , have been overshadowed by the affair.

On Monday morning, one Tory MP, David Warburton, described how his father had died alone as a result of following the rules, and said Cummings’s actions gave the impression of “double standards”.

He told BBC Breakfast: “People have made sacrifices, this is a difficult time, this is a time of national crisis.

“In those sacrifices there really hasn’t been the choice to use instinct. Instinct hasn’t really been part of it. We’ve been tasked with following regulations laid down by the government.”

Play Video 0:42 'Hypocrite': Dominic Cummings heckled over lockdown journey as he returns to London home – videoOther Conservative MPs to speak out included Martin Vickers, the MP for Cleethorpes, who told Sky News Cummings should resign for having “undermined the government’s message”, and Tim Loughton, a former minister, who told the BBC: “Has the action of Dominic Cummings threatened to undermine the message of the government and its ability to carry on its work? I’m afraid regretfully it has and that’s got to be dealt with.”

Other Tory MPs appeared to be engaging in an effort by the party’s whips to dampen down public anger by issuing nearly identical cut-and-paste messages asking constituents to “rest assured” they are passing on concerns about Cummings to the “relevant colleagues”.

Cummings has maintained a defiant position throughout, telling reporters outside his home over the weekend: “Who cares about good looks? It’s a question of doing the right thing.” He added: “It’s not about what you guys think.”

The prime minister’s aide faces a under health laws over a claim that he breached self-isolation rules by allegedly visiting Barnard Castle on 12 April.

Durham police have yet to respond to the complaints from the public but the Guardian understands the force is considering whether it needs to take any further action in relation to Cummings.

However, Steve White, the acting police, crime and victims’ commissioner for Durham, will on Monday ask the force to investigate all the claims about the prime minister’s principal adviser’s time in the Durham area during the coronavirus lockdown and establish the facts.

Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, was sent out to defend the adviser in the media on Monday morning, despite admitting he had not spoken to Cummings to find out the details of the trip.

He said Johnson had been “categorically assured” that Cummings and family had “followed the guidance and … the law”.

“If you have been given that absolute assurance … it seems fair to support that person,” he said.

Read more The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has said in Johnson’s position he would have sacked Cummings and has called for a Cabinet Office inquiry.

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, added her voice to the criticism on Monday. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, she said: “I fear, and I say this with a heavy heart, is putting his political interest ahead of the public interest.

“And when trust in a public health message and public health advice is as important as it is right now the consequences of that could be serious. I hope that the prime minister will reflect further today and perhaps come to a different conclusion than the one he made yesterday.”

Some also expressed anger at Cummings’s actions for undermining the lockdown. Three members of SPI-B, the subcommittee providing advice from behavioural scientists to the government on how the public might respond to lockdown measures, reacted with disdain to Johnson’s defence of his adviser.

Martin Surl, Gloucestershire’s independent police and crime commissioner, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Cummings’s actions made a “mockery” of police enforcement earlier in the lockdown.

“I think it makes it much harder for the police going forward – this will be quoted back at them time and time again when they try to enforce the new rules,” he said. “But I think more importantly it makes something of a mockery of the police action going back when the message was very, very clear: stay at home.

“The police had to deliver a very harsh, very difficult message and now it appears people could act differently, so I think it does undermine the policing going back and their confidence and going forward it will be more difficult but they will cope, they always do.”

Tory MPs publicly criticising Dominic Cummings Read more Steve Baker Simon Hoare Damian Collins Sir Roger Gale Peter Bone Caroline Nokes Craig Whittaker Julian Sturdy Robert Syms Paul Maynard James Gray Robert Goodwill Andrew Jones Tim Loughton David Warburton Robert Halfon Jason McCartney Martin Vickers Peter Aldous George Freeman John Stevenson

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Dominic Cummings

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