There has been a great deal of anger at the reports concerning the Prime Minister’s Chief Adviser Dominic Cummings breaking Government lockdown guidance by travelling to Durham whilst potentially being ill with the Coronavirus.

It simply cannot be the case that there is one rule for the Prime Minister’s advisers, and another for everyone else. I have seen many heart-breaking stories of people who have been unable to attend funerals, or comfort relatives as they are dying because of the need to follow lockdown rules. That someone who was instrumental in designing those rules has apparently broken them so flagrantly has, rightly, generated a great deal of anger and risks undermining both the Government’s message and the wider public health approach to tackling the Coronavirus.

I firmly believe that there needs to be an inquiry into these reports, to establish the precise facts of Mr Cummings’ actions and the extent to which the Prime Minister and senior Cabinet Ministers were aware of his actions. In the meantime, Mr Cummings should step back from his role as Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister.

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