Cummings rolling off this statement with all the joy and empathy of a man being speed-fed wasps
‘British people hate the idea of unfairness’, says the guy who’s been shitting all over them since 2016
So there it is then. No contrition, no apology. He did absolutely the right thing, just as that nice man Boris said
Just a little bit rich for Cummings to blame the media in all this when it’s been his life’s work to manipulate it
The whole tone of this though. Cummings absolutely on brand: sour-faced, unapologetic, acting like he’s doing us all an enormous favour just by being there
‘I’m not seeking to introduce any level of discretion’. Bit late for that now the PM effectively re-wrote the law to accommodate him over the weekend
Big moment. Beth Rigby puts a simple point over: millions have had to make vast sacrifices and feel the rules haven’t applied to him, so won’t he at least apologise for that? He flat out refuses. Not even an ‘I’m sorry if...’ Extraordinary.
Blimey. He won’t even admit that he should have consulted the prime minister, even now he can see how much damage he’s caused him.
Ooh, sizzling from Gary Gibbon. Cummings confirms that the PM’s known about this for a month and a half but didn’t want to know anything about it until... it became a massive media scandal. Almost as if Mr Johnson couldn’t give the tiniest damn, isn’t it?
Cummings is really not having fun here. And if the tone of the journalists is anything to go by, he won’t have satisfied public opinion either.
Jason Groves hits another nail on the head: even if Cummings hasn’t broken the letter of the law he’s driven a coach and horses through the spirit of them - and all he can do is blame the media
And there it is. Cummings didn’t offer to resign or even consider it. That’s what all this has been leading to. He’s above the rules of both coronavirus and political gravity. It seems it never even occurred to him that he’s done anything wrong or caused anyone harm.
Step back a minute here. If members of the public hadn’t come forward we would never have heard about any of this and nobody in government would ever have mentioned it. Ever wonder what else goes on in government that we never get to hear about?
I just can’t understand the political strategy here. Millions of people - millions of Tories, millions of entirely non-political people - are out-and-out raging about this. Even if he doesn’t give a damn, which he clearly doesn’t, why not at least feign a bit of contrition?
Just can’t answer the question about why he didn’t seek help in London and instead chose to shuttle the virus to the other end of the country. The answer is it wasn’t important.
Suspect that some of the many junior (and senior) aides Cummings has ruthlessly dispatched or else made to feel stupid or worthless since he seized power may be feeling a sliver of Schadenfreude this afternoon
Brilliant from Peston. Now there’s an acceptable defence of protecting one’s family why not let it apply to going out to work, etc?
The most important element here is not about what Cummings did or what his future holds, it’s that this government’s entire communication to stop a deadly pandemic now lies in ruins
