Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson flatly dismissed calls for an official inquiry into Dominic Cummings today as he was grilled by senior MPs.

The PM said he ‘totally understood public indignation’ about the situation, but urged people to ‘move on’, insisting there had already been plenty of ‘autobiography’ from his chief aide.

Pushed on whether the Cabinet Secretary should carry out a formal investigation, Mr Johnson said it would not be a ‘good use of official time’ as everyone was working ‘flat out’ on the response to the virus. 

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.

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’.

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.’

Mr Johnson will be questioned by senior MPs over the coronavirus crisis on Wednesday as calls for his key adviser to resign continue to grow. 

But MPs on the Liaison Committee will only have a maximum of 20 minutes in a 90-minute session to probe the situation.  

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 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 Hancock confirmed there could be ‘local lockdowns’ in future if the test and trace system identifies coronavirus hotspots
• 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 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.’

Boris Johnson’s sister Rachel says Dominic Cummings should apologise and admit he ‘messed up’ and made ‘bad decisions’ over his lockdown trip to Durham

• Rachel Johnson told Good Morning Britain’s the situation was ‘very problematic’ 
• Dominic Cummings has not apologised, saying he acted ‘reasonably and legally’ 
• At least 40 Tory MPs have called for Mr Cummings to step down from his post  

By Luke May For Mailonline

Published: 10:40 BST, 27 May 2020 | Updated: 10:47 BST, 27 May 2020

The Tory civil war over Dominic Cummings escalated again today as an MP accused his colleagues of ‘declaring no confidence’ in Boris Johnson by demanding his chief adviser quits.

Devizes MP Danny Kruger accused ‘one wing’ of the party of ‘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.   

The bruising clashes came as the Tories saw their poll lead slashed by nine points in a week – thought to be the biggest drop in a decade.

The PM has seen his party’s ratings tumble by four points amid the row, while support for Labour has gone up five points, according to a YouGov survey for the Times.

The findings will cause fresh alarm in Downing Street as they desperately try to move on from the controversy.

But there is little prospect of respite, as Mr Johnson faces a grilling from senior MPs on the issue this afternoon.  

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.’

Mr Johnson will be questioned by senior MPs over the coronavirus crisis on Wednesday as calls for his key adviser to resign continue to grow. 

But MPs on the Liaison Committee will only have a maximum of 20 minutes in a 90-minute session to probe the situation.  

Senior ministers have publicly expressed public support for the defiant adviser but a number of Cabinet members are unhappy at the situation.

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.

And he 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. 

In other developments:

• Mr Hancock confirmed there could be ‘local lockdowns’ in future if the test and trace system identifies coronavirus hotspots
• Mr Hancock also pledged to speak to the Treasury about whether fines imposed on families travelling for childcare purposes during lockdown should be reviewed in light of the Cummings controversy
• 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

A separate poll has provided more worries for Mr Johnson, with a majority of Conservative supporters saying Mr Cummings should be fired for breaking coronavirus rules. 

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.

The new survey comes after Mr Johnson’s personal approval rating plummeted from 19 per cent to minus one per cent in days.    

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.’