LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced mutiny in his party and fury across Britain on Monday for refusing to sack his closest aide Dominic Cummings, accused of flouting the coronavirus lockdown by driving 250 miles from London.
Dominic Cummings, special advisor for Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves his house in London following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), London, Britain, May 25, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Defending one of Britain’s most powerful men, Johnson said at the weekend Cummings acted “responsibly and legally and with integrity” when he travelled in March from London to Durham in northern England with his son and his wife, who was ill with COVID-19 symptoms.
Many believe that was hypocritical given the government’s mantra at the time that everyone should stay at home. Those in a household where anyone has symptoms are supposed to self-isolate at home for 14 days.
“What planet are they on?” asked a front page headline in the Daily Mail, an influential right-wing paper usually supportive of Johnson.
Cummings was due to make a public statement and to answer questions later on Monday, ITV and Sky News reported. A Downing Street spokeswoman declined to comment.
With a death toll around 43,000, Britain is the worst-hit country in Europe and the govern