‘Most unwise’: Police chief slams PM adviser Cummings’ 250-mile lockdown-breaking trip

Boris Johnson’s top adviser Dominic Cummings has been scolded by a police chief after traveling over 250 miles (400 km) to his parents’ home despite the UK’s coronavirus lockdown being in place.

Downing Street confirmed on Saturday that Cummings had undertaken the seemingly flagrant lockdown-breaching journey from London to Durham in March, after news of it broke on Friday night. 

In a tortured statement, Number 10 contended that, because Cummings’ wife was displaying coronavirus symptoms, the adviser had not broken the guidelines he’d helped to create because it was essential that his young son was looked after by his (Cummings’) elderly parents.

The claim has been met with confusion and anger in the UK as millions of mothers and fathers ask why they were told to keep their children away from their grandparents for more than two months.

The government’s claim appears to hold little water for Durham’s police chief as he slammed Cummings’ actions as "most unwise" and “concerning.”

“Given the whole ethos of the guidance and regulations issued from the Government was to reduce the spread, regardless of reason, by travelling to County Durham when known to be infected was most unwise,” acting Durham police commissioner Steve White said in a statement on Saturday. 

To beat this crisis, we need to be selfless as millions have been. The response by the people of County Durham and Darlington have been exemplary, which makes this most frustrating and concerning.

The BBC has also come under fire for its reporting of the fiasco, with political editor Laura Kuenssberg accused of acting as a spokesperson for the government.

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