Questions that should have been asked but were not. A short thread.

1. Did you leave London because you feared for your safety or because you were concerned that you and your wife were infected with Coronavirus?

2. If for safety, can you confirm that you reported this to the Met Police and whether the confirmed it was sensible to leave London?

3. If because you thought you and your wife were infected, how does this tally with the governments advice that said explicitly “Do not travel to 2nd homes, even for the purposes of isolation”?

4. If you were concerned that your wife was beginning to exhibit symptoms of Coronavirus, why did you return to work when the government guidance was for everyone to immediately self-isolate?

5. Your wife's article in the Spectator stated "Day in, day out for 10 days he lay doggo with a high fever and spasms,”. How were you able to drive safely to the hospital to collect your son if you were suffering with spasms?

6. Do you not agree that, whilst likely infected with Coronavirus, you attending a hospital in Durham and not your primary area of residence, is exactly what the Government “Stay at Home” message was trying to prevent? There would, of course, have been taxis available in London.

7. How can you be 100% certain that you did not infect anyone at Durham Hospital when you attended to collect your son? You believed you were infected, could your niece not have collected your son?

8. Your parents own a large amount of land on which it would be possible to exercise whilst socially distanced, once your symptoms had subsided. Is this correct?

9. Was your trip to local beauty spot Barnard Castle, on your wife’s birthday, for the purpose of exercise, or as you stated, to test your eyesight?

10. If for exercise, Barnard Castle is at least 30 minutes from your parents’ property. Why was it necessary to drive to this location to exercise when it was perfectly possible to exercise on your parents’ land?

11. If for testing your eyesight, was the previous drive to and from the hospital to collect your son not sufficient in this regard? Or are you stating that you drove whilst being unable to drive safely?

12. I am sure that you will agree that anyone exhibiting symptoms would be required to stay home and not leave the house under any circumstances. Is loss of eyesight a symptom of Coronavirus and if you were suffering from this, should you not have still been isolating regardless?

13. In addition, what part of the Government regulations allowed people to leave their house in order to go for a drive to test their eyesight? The NPCC guidelines for this period in April make no such allowance.

14. Does your wife have a driving licence? If so, why could she not drive you back to London?

15. If, as you claim, the safest place for your wife and child was in Durham, why did they come back to London with you, risking further infection along the way, when you stopped for petrol for example?

And likely hundreds more.

There are some very competent journalists who are asking good questions, but there are so many more unanswered questions that have not been dealt with.

@BethRigby @PippaCrerar @Peston @tnewtondunn @SamCoatesSky @bbclaurak

End (for now)