DOMINIC CUMMINGS avoided being ousted as the Prime Minister's top advisor after he faced calls to resign this weekend for flouting lockdown rules. PUBLISHED: 04:32, 06:07, Mon, May 25, 2020 0 Sign up for FREE now and never miss the top Royal stories again! SUBSCRIBE Invalid email
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Boris Johnson spoke out on Sunday evening to clarify that Dominic Cummings, his chief adviser, "had no alternative” but to travel 260 miles from London to County Durham with his family last month. Mr Johnson said that after "extensive face-to-face conversations” he resolved that Mr Cummings did not flout the lockdown because he had been "travelling to find the right kind of childcare, at the moment when both he and his wife were about to be incapacitated by coronavirus.” Trending
He added: "Looking at the very severe childcare difficulties that presented themselves to Dominic Cummings and his family, I think what they did was totally understandable.
"There is guidance about that particular difficulty, about what you need to do, the pressures that families face when they have childcare needs."
Mr Johnson was citing restrictions laid out by himself on March 23, when he announced in a televised speech that the country was going into lockdown.
The guidance included four "very limited purposes" for not staying at home, especifically: "any medical need, including to donate blood, avoid injury or illness, escape risk of harm, or to provide care or help a vulnerable person.” Dominic Cummings is the Prime Minister's top advisor (Image: Getty)
On March 24, Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer, added another exemption to the guideline when someone asked if a child of parents who are ill with the virus would be regarded as a vulnerable person.
She said: "A small child clearly is a vulnerable individual, so in this case, although we are encouraging everybody to stay in their households - that's the unit with the same exposure - clearly if you have adults who are unable to look after a small child, that is an exceptional circumstance."
Dr Harries clarified that the child's parents could seek further locally-based help.
She said: “If the individuals do not have access to care support, formal care support or to family, they will be able to work through local authority hubs." The Prime Minister said Mr Cummings 'had no alternative' but to travel 260 miles from London to County Durham (Image: Getty) Related articles COVID-19 breakthrough as patients stop being infectious in two weeks
Number 10 a statement on Saturday claimed that Mr Cummings and Ms Wakefield believed that the guidance meant that were allowed to drive hundreds of miles to seek help of Mr Cummings' extended family - and the Prime Minister has validated this argument.
A Downing Street spokesman said then: "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.
“His sister shopped for the family and left everything outside.
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