Boris Johnson goes for run with dog as backlash over Dominic Cummings row deepens

Boris Johnson has been spotted on an early-morning run with his pet as he faces another day of backlash over his refusal to sack his adviser.

The Prime Minister took his morning exercise as he faces revolt over his failure to meet demands to fire Dominic Cummings over his lockdown breach.

Mr Johnson stood by his top aide and has claimed he did not nothing wrong, despite a growing outcry from Brits and even members of his own party.

It came as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer urged the PM rethink his decision, saying he would have sacked Mr Cummings if it were his decision.

The under-fire PM took a jog with his pet on the grounds of Lambeth Palace as Monday brings a building chorus of dissent from within Tory ranks.

The British leader took the jog with the dog he bought with fiance Carrie Symonds, Dilyn.

The PM ran in a light t-shirt and navy shorts in the capital's heatwave as he took a turn around the palace, which is a stone's throw from Downing Street.

Mr Johnson will be pelting headlong into another storm of protest today, as the day broke to intensified focus on his top adviser's behviour and the government's response.

The PM faces criticism not only over Mr Cummings breaching the Government's own lockdown guidelines, but also due to his own defence of his aide during last night's briefing.

Mr Cummings travelled to Durham with Covid-19 in March to self-isolate with his family while official guidelines warned against long-distance journey.

Number 10 said he left London because he feared he and his wife would be left unable to care for their son.

After senior Tories rushed to his defence over the weekend, saying he was trying to protect his family, a second joint investigation by the Mirror and Observer revealed Mr Cummings took a second trip to the North East in April.

He was first spotted outside his parents’ property by a neighbour on April 5.

He was then reportedly seen walking by the River Tees near Barnard Castle on April 12 by retired teacher Robin Lees - 30 miles away from his parents' home.

Mr Cummings was reported to police last night for an alleged breach of lockdown.

Mr Lees, 71, reported Mr Cummings after allegedly spotting him out in Barnard Castle, on April 12.

In his report to Durham Police, Mr Lees  describes the possible sighting of Mr Cummings, his wife and child approaching a grey Range Rover parked on the Sills between Ullathorne Rise and Gill Lane and gives the number plate.

Mr Johnson last night claimed his aide was following a 'father's instincts,' prompting fresh howls of outrage.

The PM fronted Downing Street's coronavirus briefing to back Mr Cummings, saying he had "acted responsibly, legally and with integrity" and that "any parent would frankly understand what he did".

But anguished members of the public and MPs have told of being forced to say their goodbyes to dying loved ones over phone calls, and being unable to attend funerals due to the lockdown rules designed to limit the virus' spread.

Dissent has also come from inside Tory party ranks, with former minister Paul Maynard saying he shared people's "dismay" at the response, and was one of many MPs who insisted Mr Cummings should quit or be sacked.

"It is a classic case of 'do as I say, not as I do' - and it is not as if he was unfamiliar with guidance he himself helped draw up," he said.

"It seems to me to be utterly indefensible and his position wholly untenable," veteran Conservative Sir Roger Gale said.

 "I'm very disappointed, I think it was an opportunity to put this to bed and I fear that now the story is simply going to run and run."

Senior Tory MP Simon Hoare, who had already called for Mr Cummings to go, later lamented Mr Johnson's press conference, telling the Daily Mail: "The PM's performance posed more questions than it answered. Any residual hope that this might die away in the next 24 hours is lost."

Somerton and Frome MP David Warburton said Mr Cummings was "damaging the Government and the country that he's supposed to be serving".

Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Monday morning, he said his own father had died alone as a result of the coronavirus lockdown.

"People have made sacrifices, this is a difficult time, this is a time of national crisis," he said.

"In those sacrifices there really hasn't been the choice to use instinct.

"Instinct hasn't really been part of it.

"We've been tasked with following regulations laid down by the Government."