'Time to move on from Dominic Cummings affair,' says Sunderland Conservatives' leader

It is time to ‘move on from the Dominic Cummings affair’, according to Wearside’s top Conservative.
Dominic Cummings. Picture by Jonathan Brady/PA WireDominic Cummings. Picture by Jonathan Brady/PA Wire
Dominic Cummings. Picture by Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

The Prime Minister’s top advisor and right hand man has been under pressure to quit following the revelation he travelled to his family’s farm in Durham at the height of the coronavirus lockdown.

But more than a week since the news broke, Coun Robert Oliver, leader of Sunderland City Council’s Conservative opposition group, has called for focus to move back to the ‘continued battle against Covid-19’.

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“He isn’t an MP, only a special adviser, so he has no vote on any of the measures introduced,” said Coun Robert Oliver.

“He’s been criticised and asked to resign which is fair game but some have jumped on the bandwagon because they didn’t like him in the first place, maybe because of his role in delivering Brexit or the general election in 2019.”

Coun Oliver also accused some critics of ‘double standards’ for not applying the same standards to others who broke lockdown rules, such as Aberavon MP Stephen Kinnock, who was rapped by South Wales Police for visiting his father, former Labour leader Neil Kinnock.

He added: “He has not been found guilty and the police have decided not to take further action.

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“His actions certainly don’t help enforce the rules but most people won’t be swayed by this.”

Coun Oliver’s view is at odds with his party colleagues in Barnard Castle, where Cummings drove to ‘test’ his eyesight, following a suspected bout of COVID-19.

Ted Henderson, a Conservative member of Durham County Council who represents the market town, said the public were ‘disgusted’ with the aide’s actions and called for him to ‘fall on his sword’.

Labour’s Graeme Miller, the leader of Sunderland City Council, claimed the majority of the public backed this view and called Coun Oliver ‘foolish’ for defending the controversial advisor.

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He said: “Any politician breaking the Covid guidance should apologise – there cannot be one rule for the elite and a different rule for the rest of us.

Dominic Cummings has risked our whole Covid -19 strategy with his willful disregarding of the lockdown protocols.

“The crowds at our beaches, in people’s gardens and green spaces across England this weekend, clearly pay testament to the effect his actions have had on people.

“Coun Oliver should focus more on reminding his government about their pledge to pay local authorities for the full costs of dealing with a national public health crisis.”

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