News and Opinion

A BBC presenter has been caught calling Dominic Cummings ‘such a dick’ on-air during a live news broadcast. BBC Radio Ulster’s Nuala McKeever was caught labelling Cummings a ‘dick’ when she left her microphone on during an afternoon news bulletin. Listeners could hear McKeever disrupt news presenter Damien Edgar for a whole minute before she […]

EU Brexit negotiator and former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt has chimed into UK political discourse calling Brexiteers ‘elitist’ while mocking prime minister Boris Johnson. https://twitter.com/guyverhofstadt/status/1264576749918134275 Verhofstadt posted a Sunday Times sketch of a puzzled prime minister Johnson sitting at his desk saying ‘I can’t sack Dominic Cummings until he tells me to’. Underneath the […]

Questions have been raised about Dominic Cummings’ claim he warned of the threat of coronavirus ‘last year’ after the discovery of a recent edit on the senior adviser’s blog. Speaking during a press conference, Boris Johnson’s senior aide said he had written about the ‘possible threat of coronaviruses’ in 2019. ‘For years, I have warned […]

Senior Tory MP William Wragg has accused minsters defending Dominic Cummings in the press of ‘disregarding’ public opinion. Wragg, the chair of the Commons committee into public administration and constitutional affairs, said it was ‘humiliating and degrading’ to see ministers run to Dominic Cummings’ defence. ‘We cannot throw away valuable public & political good will […]

Britain’s comparison between the coronavirus and a ‘war’ are in stark contrast to the German approach – where they have been more successful at tackling Covid-19. Many political leaders around the world have reached for the imagery of conflict to describe the coronavirus pandemic. In France, President Emmanuel Macron said his nation was at war […]

Westminster opposition parties are set to meet to discuss how to deal with Dominic Cummings following revelations he travelled 270 miles to County Durham while ill with the coronavirus. https://twitter.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1264603384264482817 Labour, the SNP, and Liberal Democrats and other party leaders will gather in a bid to map out the ‘next steps’ on Dominic Cummings, SNP […]

The government’s approval ratings have dropped 16 points in just one day, suggesting the Dominic Cummings story on breaking lockdown rules has rocked public opinion. According to pollsters Savanta ComRes, the approval rating of the government now sits at -2%, falling significantly over the weekend. Boris Johnson’s own approval rating is at -1%, a drop […]

Boris Johnson may come to regret his decision to allow his senior aide to contradict lockdown guidance, especially with the potential for a second coronavirus spike. Fear has a bad reputation. Nobody wants to live in a society of fear; it’s an emotion to be avoided. As such, the role of the modern state is […]

Despite Boris Johnson’s senior aide giving a press conference lasting an hour, many of the explanations did not provide answers to satisfy viewers, and there were more questions left to be answered. – How many breaches of lockdown restrictions did Cummings commit? None, if you share Cummings’ view. Others say one. Still, others say two. […]

Brexit campaigner and Cummings ally Mark Wallace has called on Dominic Cummings to resign following his lockdown-breaking trip to County Durham during the coronavirus peak. Wallace, who is the chief executive of the grassroots Tory blog, ConservativeHome, claimed Cummings needed to resign ‘for his own cause’. The Brexiteer made the comments in his regular i […]

A government minister has resigned over Dominic Cummings’ flouting of the coronavirus lockdown rules. Douglas Ross, MP for Moray, said that he was quitting after hearing Cummings’ efforts to defend his trip from London to Durham. The MP, who served as under-secretary of state for Scotland, said he could not ‘in good faith’ tell his […]

The Daily Mail has continued its attack on the government over how it handled the Dominic Cummings allegations. The Daily Mail’s front page questions how a ‘defiant’ Cummings can possibly survive in the role in the wake of the public furore over the saga. Mail columnist Dominic Sandbrook says Cummings wields ‘more raw power than […]

Dominic Cummings’ account of his trip to Durham was ‘exhaustive, detailed and verifiable’, Michael Gove has claimed. The minister for the Cabinet Office told BBC Breakfast: ‘I think Dominic completely understands the sense of concern people felt as the story broke. ‘I think the account he gave yesterday was exhaustive, it was detailed, it was […]

A majority of the British public believe that Boris Johnson’s senior adviser should resign, a new poll suggests. Some 59% of Britons think Dominic Cummings should resign from his Downing Street role following questions about his conduct during lockdown. The YouGov poll – conducted on Saturday before fresh allegations about the aide – found that […]

Cabinet minister Michael Gove was sent out to defend Dominic Cummings up against fresh scrutiny of his Downing Street statement. LBC presenter Nick Ferrari asked Gove about his claim that he used a journey to Barnard Castle on his wife’s birthday to check his vision, having travelled 260 miles from London to Durham. At the […]

Questions have been asked why Downing Street sent away England’s chief medical officer (CMO) and chief scientific adviser (CSA) after they turned up to host the daily press briefing. Both Chris Whitty (CMO) and Patrick Vallance (CSA) were expected to take questions from the media alongside prime minister Boris Johnson on Monday evening. They were […]

A police officer has said that people are using Dominic Cummings as an excuse to evade coronavirus lockdown rules. The officer, who works in London, told LBC radio that he has found enforcing the law more difficult now that a top government official has broken lockdown rules. The man – who gave his name as […]

The chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales has taken to social media to warn people not to get behind the wheel if they feel unwell or their eyesight is impaired. Prime minister Boris Johnson has said that his own eyesight was affected by coronavirus, after questions over the fact his aide Dominic […]

Former Downing Street director of communications Alastair Campbell has slammed Boris Johnson’s government for focusing on Dominic Cummings rather than the coronavirus pandemic. The New European editor-at-large appeared on Sky News after Cummings’ press conference to say that he does not care if Johnson keep his senior adviser in post or not, because it shows […]

Dominic Cummings has sought to defend his decision to drive to County Durham despite the coronavirus lockdown restrictions, saying he does not regret his actions, and has refused to apologise. In a highly unusual press conference in the rose garden of 10 Downing Street, the prime minister’s chief adviser said he made the journey because […]

Criticism has rained down on Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings from the national newspapers – with even the Tory-supporting Daily Mail criticising the government. Have your say Send your letters for publication to The New European by emailing letters@theneweuropean.co.uk and pick up an edition each Thursday for more comment and analysis. Find your nearest stockist […]

A storm of protest continues to rage not only over revelations the prime minister’s most senior aide broke the government’s own lockdown guidelines, but also due to Boris Johnson’s defence of Dominic Cummings. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s top aide Dominic Cummings leaves his north London home. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA Wire – Credit: PA Cummings travelled […]

Footage posted on social media showed Dominic Cummings being heckled by a crowd of onlookers as he returned to his London home after Boris Johnson’s latest press briefing. New footage shows a passerby asking ‘why’s it one rule for you and another for everybody else? ‘Why do you think you’re above the law, mate? ‘Why […]

A member of the government’s advisory group on behavioural science has said Boris Johnson has ‘trashed’ all the advice he had been given on building the public trust need for lockdown to work. Professor Stephen Reicher is on the Independent Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (SPI-B) that feeds analysis and advice to the scientists […]

Social media users are being encouraged to take to their doorsteps to protest the prime minister’s defence of Dominic Cummings for allegedly breaching lockdown rules. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s senior aide Dominic Cummings arriving at his north London home. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA Wire. – Credit: PA Musician Vikki Stone took to Twitter after Sunday’s press […]

Shortly after Boris Johnson’s press conference at Downing Street, where he defended his chief adviser Dominic Cummings, the official UK Civil Service Twitter account complained about his remarks. In a now-deleted tweet, the account wrote after Sunday’s daily Downing Street press conference: ‘Arrogant and offensive. Can you imagine having to work with these truth twisters?’ […]

Prime minister Boris Johnson has backed his top aide Dominic Cummings over allegations he breached lockdown restrictions, saying: ‘He has acted responsibly, legally and with integrity’. The PM told a Downing Street press briefing: ‘I have had extensive face-to-face conversations with Dominic Cummings and I have concluded that in travelling to find the right kind […]

A shadow minister has called for Boris Johnson to attend Sunday’s Downing Street briefing to answer questions about his most senior adviser. Sarah Jones urged Conservative ministers to explain why they backpedalled on coronavirus lockdown rules whilst defending allegations that Dominic Cummings breached them. Speaking during Sophy Ridge on Sunday, the shadow policing minister said: […]