Boris Johnson wants to 'draw a line' under Dominic Cummings saga

It comes after the Durham police force said today that Mr Cummings's trip to Barnard Castle might have broken lockdown rules, but they would be taking no further action.

Boris Johnson said: "I’ve said quite a lot on this matter already. What I will say that is that the Durham police said that they were going to take no action, and the matter was closed and I intend to draw a line under the matter as I said, I think, yesterday to the parliamentary liaison committee. 

"They’re not taking any action, I intend to draw a line under it."

READ MORE: Coronavirus: Scottish Government's exams replacement labelled 'totally unacceptable'

Mr Johnson also refused to let scientific adviser Sir Patrick Valance or UK Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty answer any questions relating to Mr Cummings, saying he was going to “protect them from what I think would be an unfair and unnecessary attempt to ask a political question.”

He added: “ It’s very, very important that our medical officers and scientific advisors do not get dragged into what I think most people recognize is fundamentally a political argument. “

The scientists later said they had no desire to be involved in political turmoil “at all”.

The announcement from Durham police is the latest in a nearly week-long saga over the actions of Mr Cummings, who was a key figure in the pro-Brexit Vote Leave campaign. 

Reports emerged on Saturday of Mr Cummings’s trip to Durham, and on Sunday claims he made another trip to Barnard Castle. 

Mr Cummings said he made the trip on Easter Sunday, also his wife’s birthday, to ‘test his eyesight’ after he had fallen ill with coronavirus symptoms.

He said he had been isolating on his father’s farm as he was concerned over childcare for his four-year-old son if he and his wife both became incapacitated.

The incident sparked outrage among the public and politicians, including dozens of Tory MPs and MSPs who were calling for his resignation.

Mr Cummings gave an unprecedented press conference on Monday where he refused to apologise and said he had not considered resigning over the trip.
The following day under secretary of state for Scotland Douglas Ross quit his government role in protest, saying he could not justify the aide’s actions to angry constituents.

Opposition politicians continued to urge the Prime Minister to remove his adviser today. 

The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford had a meeting with Mr Johnson this afternoon where he again interrogated him over the aide’s movements.

Following the meeting Mr Blackford said:”I told the Prime Minister that he needs to put public health first and remove Dominic Cummings from post. There cannot be one rule for the Tory government and another for everyone else.

“We now have confirmation from Durham Police that Mr Cummings broke the regulations - and we already know that he broke UK government guidance. His position is completely untenable. This has become a question of Boris Johnson’s judgement and integrity.

“As I said in the meeting, there is serious concern that this scandal is eroding public trust in the health guidance and distracting from efforts to tackle coronavirus - including the success of test, trace and isolate schemes, which rely on public adherence to the rules.

“In today’s meeting, Boris Johnson said we need to build up public confidence and people need to observe the rules. Many people will find that gobsmacking given the Dominic Cummings scandal and his failure to act.

“This is an issue that transcends politics. There is growing public anger and a mounting rebellion of Tory MPs. I urged the Prime Minister to accept his responsibilities, dismiss Mr Cummings and then outline how he will repair the damage this has done.”

READ MORE: Coronavirus: The alarming results of recent antibody studies - and why they should be a warning to us as we exit lockdown

Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary,  said: “The police have confirmed what we all knew, that Dominic Cummings broke the rules he helped to write. The country cannot afford for this saga to carry on. Only Boris Johnson can draw a line under it “Keir Starmer has said that if he was Prime Minister, he would have sacked Dominic Cummings. Boris Johnson should follow that advice.

“If he does not act then he will send a clear message that there is one rule for his closest adviser and another for the British people.”

Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:”Durham Police have now confirmed what the public already knew - Dominic Cummings should not have done what he did. The fact that Minister after Minister have tried to pretend otherwise has been an insult to each and every one of us following the rules to keep each other safe from the virus.

“Either the Prime Minister and his Ministers lied or they have no understanding of the rules they have written.

“This behaviour over the past few days has entirely eroded the public’s trust in the Government. The Prime Minister has said he wants to move on so that all efforts can be focused on the UK’s response to the pandemic, but the only way to do that would be for him to ask for Dominic Cumming’s resignation.

“Unless he resigns, the sacrifices everyone has made are at risk of being entirely undermined.”