Boris Johnson flatly dismissed the calls for an official inquiry into Dominic Cummings today as he was grilled by senior MPs, saying the outcry was just a ‘political ding dong’.
The PM said he ‘totally understood public indignation’ about the situation, but insisted some of the allegations about his chief aide were ‘not correct’ and urged people to ‘move on’.
Pushed on whether the Cabinet Secretary should carry out a formal investigation, Mr Johnson said there had been plenty of ‘autobiography’ from Mr Cummings and it would not be a ‘good use of official time’ as everyone was working ‘flat out’ on the coronavirus response.
The comments came as Mr Johnson appeared before the Liaison Committee this afternoon, with the row over Mr Cummings’ 260-mile trip to Durham during lockdown still threatening to tear the Tories to pieces.
The party’s poll lead has been slashed by nine points in a week – thought to be the biggest drop in a decade.
A Cabinet minister said earlier that parents with childcare issues should ‘do as Dominic Cummings did’ and exercise ‘personal judgement’.
The Tory civil war has been escalating again, with an MP accusing his colleagues of ‘declaring no confidence’ in the PM.
Devizes MP Danny Kruger said ‘one wing’ of the party was ‘going bonkers’ and comparing the alleged lockdown breach to ‘the invasion of Suez’.
But in a sign of the depth of the devastating rift, former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has insisted Mr Cummings ‘clearly’ did break the rules.
A private conference call with government whips and the new intake of Conservative MPs today appears to have smoothed over matters somewhat, with no more outright calls for the adviser to quit.
In other helter-skelter developments in the coronavirus crisis:
- The government has declared it’s contact tracing regime will start to operate tomorrow, but there are major doubts over whether it will work as a crucial phone app is not ready;
- The number of jobs being bailed out by the government has hit a new high of 8.4million – plus 2.3million self-employed, according to new figures;
- Mr Johnson has revealed he hopes the two-metre social distancing rule can be reduced once the outbreak subsides to a lower level;
- The government has ruled out cancelling fines for families travelling for childcare purposes during lockdown, despite Mr Hancock saying it would be reviewed;
- A witness to the alleged lockdown breach by Mr Cummings said he has been interviewed by police
- Mr Johnson said an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus outbreak needs to take place
The PM urged people to move on from the controversy, saying there had been plenty of ‘autobiography’ from his chief aide
Liaison Committee chair Bernard Jenkin (left) oversaw the fiery exchanges with the PM, including Yvette Cooper (right) demanding to know what the advice to parents was about travelling for childcare
The PM has seen his party’s ratings tumble by four points in a week amid the Dominic Cummings row, while support for Labour has gone up five points, according to a YouGov survey for the Times
The PM’s personal ratings have also been plummeting amid the row over his chief adviser’s lockdown activities
Amid fierce questioning from MPs at the committee hearing this afternoon, Mr Johnson was asked whether the government’s ‘moral authority’ had been compromised.
‘This has really been going on for several days now – in the media at least,’ he said.
‘I, of course, am deeply sorry for all the hurt and pain and anxiety that people have been going through throughout this period – this country has been going through a frankly most difficult time.
‘We are asking people to do quite exceptionally tough things, separating them from their families.’
Mr Johnson said he would not be adding to his previous comments on Mr Cummings and said the public wanted politicians to focus on ‘uniting our message’ and ‘focusing on their needs’.
Northern Ireland committee chair Simon Hoare – one of around 40 Tory MPs baying for Mr Cummings’ resignation – warned the PM the nation will be ‘far less energetic’ about obeying future restrictions as ‘a direct result of the activities of your senior adviser’.
Mr Hoare asked what MPs should tell constituents who ask ‘if other people don’t abide by it why on earth should we’ because ‘we know what your views are, frankly Prime Minister, I don’t think anybody understands why you hold those views’.
Mr Johnson replied: ‘I don’t think that’s true about how the British people will respond to the next phases, to how to work the test and trace system, I don’t think that’s how they responded at all throughout the crisis.
‘If, just suppose for a second that you were right, which I don’t accept, all the more reason now for us to be consistent and clear in our message driving those key messages.’
Mr Johnson said he had seen evidence to prove that some of the allegations made against Mr Cummings were false.
Boris Johnson (right) is facing 90 minutes of scrutiny today, but questions on coronavirus and Dominic Cummings (left) will be restricted to 20 minutes
In a tetchy round of interviews, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick (pictured) said people were entitled to exercise ‘personal judgement’ over the tough lockdown rules
But asked by Labour MP Meg Hillier whether the Cabinet Secretary should also see that evidence, the PM said: ‘I think actually that it would not be doing my job if I were now to shuffle this problem into the hands of officials who, believe me, Meg, are – as I think the public would want – working flat out to deal with coronavirus…
‘I totally understand public indignation, I totally understand that, but I do think that as I understand things, and I’ve said what I’ve said about the whole business, I think it would be much better if we could now move on and focus on the next steps.’
Under fire from Home Affairs Committee chair Yvette Cooper, Mr Johnson said people could travel to get childcare during lockdown if there were ‘exceptional’ circumstances.
But Mrs Cooper demanded on the advice: ‘What is it? Because it is not clear to me.’
Mr Johnson shot back: ‘The clear advice is to stay at home unless you absolutely have to go to work to do your job.
‘If you have exceptional problems with childcare then that may cause you to vary your arrangements.’
Mr Johnson went on to describe the row over Mr Cummings as a ‘political ding dong’, and said: ‘A lot of the allegations that were made about that adviser were simply not correct.’
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick was clearly frustrated this morning as he was forced to defend the adviser during a tetchy interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Mr Jenrick said people were entitled to ‘do as Dominic Cummings chose to do’ if they could not find childcare.
‘If there are no other options, if you don’t have ready access to childcare, you can do as Dominic Cummings chose to do,’ he said.
‘The guidelines say you must do your best, but they appreciate that family life poses particular challenges and in order to protect you children you are allowed to exercise degree of personal judgement.’
Mr Jenrick also confirmed that a review into whether fines could be cancelled for thousands of people who travelled distances during lockdown – floated by Health Secretary Matt Hancock last night – was not happening.
Dozens of Mr Johnson’s own MPs have now joined opposition politicians to demand that Mr Cummings is sacked, but the premier has flatly dismissed the calls.
And Mr Kruger upped the ante by telling Newsnight that ‘one wing of our party is going collectively bonkers by comparing a four year old’s toilet break to the invasion of Suez’.
‘Appreciate the inbox and press are horrific but the PM is signalling (as he did with the sacking of 21 MPs last year – which appalled the same people in the parly party) that he’s serious.’
Mr Kruger said that Mr Johnson and Mr Cummings together were ‘why we won the 2019 election’.
‘An arguable minor infraction of lockdown rules is totally secondary to that,’ he said.
‘Also, No10 won’t budge, so calling for (Mr Cummings) to go is basically declaring no confidence in PM.’
Senior ministers have publicly expressed public support for the defiant adviser but a number of Cabinet members are unhappy at the situation.
In other developments:
The YouGov poll is the latest to demonstrate the scale of public anger about the lockdown issue.
A poll from JL Partners for the Daily Mail revealed that 66 per cent of people think Cummings should leave his post amid the row, including 55 per cent of all Conservative voters.
A further 63 per cent believe Boris Johnson should sack his right hand man, including 53 per cent of Tory supporters.
Perhaps even more damning is the statistic that 80 per cent of people and almost three quarters of Conservative supporters agree that Cummings broke the rules he played a key role in drawing up.
In further bleak news for the Prime Minister, the research suggests that former Labour voters in the ‘Red Wall’ in the North and Midlands have reacted particularly badly to the row.
At 72 per cent, working class ‘C1/C2’ voters are more likely to think the government is behaving as though ‘it is one rule for them and another rule for everyone else’, while 69 per cent are more likely to say Cummings is not telling the truth than voters overall.
More research by YouGov last night found Some 71 per cent believe Mr Cummings broke the strict rules, including 56 per cent of Tory voters and 63 per cent of his fellow Brexiteers.
Almost six in 10 voters believe he should resign, including almost half (46 per cent) of Tories and 52 per cent of Leavers.
The Prime Minister’s refusal to sack him has also had an impact on his own image.
Mr Johnson had a net approval rating of 19 per cent on Friday before the news of his chief aide’s 260-mile journey to Durham.
But a poll by Savanta ComRes yesterday put Mr Johnson on -1 per cent after he and senior ministers leapt to Mr Cummings’ defence – the lowest of the pandemic.
The Prime Minister now has an approval rating of below that of opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer, and the ratings of other senior ministers including Dominic Raab and Matt Hancock have similarly tumbled.
The row appears to have taken its toll on the Government as a whole, with a Friday approval rating of 20 per cent falling to -2 per cent.
The Liaison Committee includes William Wragg, who has said it was ‘humiliating and degrading’ to see ministers put out agreed lines in defence of Mr Cummings, and Caroline Nokes, who has informed her party whips there could not be ‘wriggle room’ for some people when it comes to lockdown rules.
Also among those questioning the PM will be Labour chairwoman of the Home Affairs Committee Yvette Cooper, and Tory chairman of the Health Committee Jeremy Hunt – who has said he believes Mr Cummings broke lockdown rules.
Mr Cummings said he had driven to Durham to isolate in a property on his father’s farm because of concerns over care for his four-year-old son if both he and his wife were incapacitated by Covid-19.
But a growing number of Conservative MPs have voiced their frustration over Mr Cummings after he expressed ‘no regrets’ about his trip.
Scotland Office minister Douglas Ross quit the Government yesterday, saying he could not ‘in good faith’ defend Mr Cummings’ actions.
Tory grandee Sir Roger Gale said the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee should make it clear to the PM his adviser should go.
‘The time I think has come for Mr Cummings to resign or for the PM to dispense of his services,’ the North Thanet MP said.
‘There are people on the 1922 executive who are courageous, and that’s their job.
‘They are elected to tell the PM what he needs to hear, not what he wants to hear.’
Tory voters agree that Mr Cummings broke lockdown rules, according to separate YouGov polling from yesterday
There is broad support for Mr Cummings quitting across Leave and Tory voters, according to a poll yesterday