I'll Just Leave This Here

[douglas9401]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-52779356

Feel free to divide down party lines

[Peter Pedant]

// what they do but how it will be perceived. When Prof. Ferguson had his lover visit him, //

er sorry Jim, as someone might object- you have no evidence that either loved the other - unvalidated opinion .....

[naomi24]

Jim, had you been party to formulating the rules, are there any circumstances in which you would break them?

[jim360]

No.

[naomi24]

Hmmmm..... I don't know if that makes you a better person than me .... but I have my doubts.

[gness]

Naomi, this was not a reason to break a rule. It was not the only solution to their problem....if they really had one. Surely you must see that?

[jim360]

Alternatively: yes, there are circumstances in which I'd break them, but that would be because I was not thinking, not because I'd concocted some sort of justification* for why it was OK for me to break them whilst expecting everybody else to follow them.

*read: excuse.

[Zacs-Master]

‘ I've no idea of the options that may have been available to him’

The only sensible option in his position (not the position of someone helping with a leaky pipe) was to follow his own guidelines.

‘ if you live with others and you are the first in the household to have symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), then you must stay at home for at least 7 days, but all other household members who remain well must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill’

[fiction-factory]

The circumstances don't add up to me. If you're feeling unwell why would you both drive 250 miles with child just in case you both become extremely ill

[douglas9401]

Well after a slow start this one has fairly romped away, albeit in two or three directions.

My opinion is that he's a liar, for what reason I know not but he clearly expects what he says to be taken at face value with no dissent.
His self image may be about to take a hit as he signs on at Jobcentreplus.

[gness]

A change of tack - this looks at articles written by Wakefield and Cummings - which make it plain that they did not travel North because of an urgent need for childcare, but to isolate as a family in a farmhouse - shooting holes in the 'they did it for the kid' argument :

https://descrier.co.uk/politics/dominic-cummings-and-wife-tried-to-cover-up-lockdown-breach-in-articles-for-the-spectator/

It also shows that they knew that what they were doing was wrong, by the way they were 'economical' with the truth about where they spent lockdown.

[shoota]

Who cares?

[johnny.5]

has the
cummings and goings of political life headline been used yet

[gness]

Been reading Diary of a Nobody, Johnny?.... :-)

Looking at the timings, dates and discrepancies I'm wondering if Boris told him it was fine to travel North. That could explain why Cummings is being so cocky in his replies.

[gness]

Who cares, Shoota? Well those of us who weren't allowed to travel to a dying mother or attend her funeral.

[naomi24]

//My opinion is that he's a liar//

In my opinion you’re probably right, douglas. Nevertheless, had I been in the position he claims to have been in, I would have flouted the rule - even if I’d made the rule. Similarly, if my mother was dying 200 miles away, rule or no rule, I would have gone to her. Anyone who wouldn't do likewise is, in my opinion, a very strange human being indeed. As I said, rules can only be strictly applied in normal circumstances. Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures - and sometimes rule breaking just has to be done.

[iluvmargie]

Nothing, but nothing would have kept me away from a dying Mother or Father and if I got fined £1,000 for doing so, who the hell cares. It's only money and family must always come first.

[gness]

Naomi. Getting in a car to drive 200 miles was not an option for me. The UK and Irish laws meant I couldn't travel to see her. I would have stopped by Irish Guards before I got to the ferry and UK police as soon as I arrived so stop insulting me.
You need to take off your blinkers.

[gness]

Refusing to turn back after travelling more than 2km from home would mean instant arrest here, Iluv. How would you have dealt with that?

[iluvmargie]

I was referring to myself Gness, not to you. Of course I was in the same country as my parents, so it would have been easier for me.

[naomi24]

gness, this is about breaking rules when they need to be broken. I don't have blinkers.

Margie, quite right.