Anyone wanna hear my conspiracy theory re: the Dominic Cummings story? No? Oh well that’s a shame, because I’m gonna tell you anyway.

As they’ve admitted, The Mirror and The Guardian have known about Cummings breaking lock down for 7 weeks. And yet they’ve only just reported it.

People on ‘the left’ of the newspaper industry have also been saying for a few weeks now that newspapers are desperate to see the lock down lifted because its adversely affecting their bottom line.

The main take from the Cummings story has been that it could critically undermine support for the lock down measures among the general public.

What if the story has been released at this moment precisely because they want it to have that affect?

It’s not just the newspaper industry that want to see the back of the lock down. Bosses and influential Tories do as well, again because it’s adversely affecting profits in general. By some accounts the government never wanted it in the first place.

Few want to openly advocate scrapping it, given the science is that distancing is still required.

So instead of openly advocating it, they tacitly signal it’s over by 1) showing that people in power are flouting it (‘papers) and 2) refusing to condemn that flouting (government).

If this informal slackening does lead to an uptick in infections and death, they all then have plausible deniability.

Hence the official government messaging on social media still being ‘obey the rules’, while the dog whistle message is ‘do what you like’.

If Dominic Cummings has to be thrown under a bus for that, then it’s a price they’re all willing to pay. Maybe he even threw himself under it.

Please note this is *not* what I think happened. I’m sure you could pick lots of holes in it. But food for thought nonetheless.