Critics urge firing of Johnson aide

Prime minister’s slogan creator went to farm while infected

Dominic Cummings, a senior government adviser, is seen Saturday outside his London home.
(AP/Aaron Chown)
Dominic Cummings, a senior government adviser, is seen Saturday outside his London home. (AP/Aaron Chown)

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson came under pressure Saturday to dismiss his top aide, the strategist and slogan creator Dominic Cummings, who may have violated strict quarantine rules by taking a 260-mile family road trip while he and wife were infected with coronavirus.

Cummings was the messaging mastermind behind Johnson's successful 2016 Brexit campaign, who coined the phrase "Take Back Control." Later he was the brains behind Johnson's landslide victory in the December general election, winning with another Cummings coining, the promise to "Get Brexit Done."

The Guardian and Mirror newspapers revealed Friday that the special adviser traveled from London to his parents' farm in Durham in northern England in late March -- just as Johnson began his own difficult bout with covid-19.

At the time, a strict lockdown was in place and top government ministers were hammering away at the public with the message to keep the National Health Service from being overwhelmed: "Stay at Home. Protect the NHS. Save Lives."

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Instead, Cummings, his wife, Mary Wakefield, an editor at the conservative magazine Spectator, and their young son fled from the capital city to the countryside, even as the government was asking people not to travel to second homes, to stay indoors, and for those with symptoms, to follow strict quarantine to control the contagion.

Cummings has the British prime minister's "full support," said Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, at a raucous news conference. Shapps said that Johnson knew that Cummings was unwell and was staying in one place, but didn't say whether Johnson was aware his top aide had driven across the country.

Cummings' apparent flaunting of the rules has sparked an angry cry for his head -- from opposition politicians and ordinary citizens -- who say that government officials are hypocrites who tell the public to do one thing while they do another.

Many in Britain have not seen their friends and relatives since the lockdown was announced March 23, missing births, graduations, weddings and funerals. Sunbathers have been fined by police for flouting the rules. Residents out in the countryside have warned "corona-idiots" from the cities to stay away.

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Opposition lawmakers said that if Cummings had broken the guidelines, then he needed to go.

"It is as simple as that," said Ed Davey, the acting leader of the Liberal Democrats.

In late March, Cummings was filmed rushing out of Downing Street, shortly after Johnson tested positive for coronavirus.

After 10 days of self-isolation at the official residence, the prime minister was so sick he was taken to the hospital and then its intensive-care unit, where he was given supplemental oxygen. Upon his release, Johnson said he was lucky to be alive.

Downing Street issued a statement Saturday saying that Cummings did nothing wrong.

"Owing to his wife being infected with suspected coronavirus and the high likelihood that he would himself become unwell, it was essential for Dominic Cummings to ensure his young child could be properly cared for. His sister and nieces had volunteered to help so he went to a house, near to but separate, from his extended family in case their help was needed."

That would be the farm in Durham. "His actions were in line with coronavirus guidelines," the statement read. "Mr. Cummings believes he behaved reasonably and legally."

Asked by reporters camped outside his London home on Saturday if it looked good for a senior government adviser to ride out his symptoms far from home, Cummings replied: "Who cares about good looks? It's a question of doing the right thing. It's not about what you guys think."

A Section on 05/24/2020

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