Around 12 hours since the Cummings story broke & no official response from No10 (despite requests). Just anon briefings from allies who say Cummings & his wife went to Durham because they were too ill to care for their young son. Adds the couple stayed in a separate building

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Reporters being pointed towards this single comment from the Deputy Chief Medical Officer

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Needless to say there are countless comments from the PM & ministers saying you...

- Should not leave your home if you have #covid19 symptoms.
- Should not visit relatives, even if you don't have symptoms.
- Should not ask older grandparents to care for young children.

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The defence looks to be these were exceptional circumstances. The question is were they really exceptional enough to travel 260 miles from a #covid19 hotspot to a rural area, most probably taking the virus with him to see older relatives? Was there absolutely no alternative?

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The risk during the ongoing lockdown is the public think if exceptions can be made for the PM's right hand man, why can't they be made for everyone else? More broadly, there's a danger he looks like part of the 'rule breaking elite' that this govt has so often railed against.

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