Dominic Cummings admits driving 30 miles after suspected coronavirus - to 'check his eyesight'

Dominic Cummings today admitted he went for a 30-mile drive on his wife's 45th birthday while recovering from suspected coronavirus - to check his eyesight.

Boris Johnson's top aide made the comment in a bombshell 14-minute explanation of his actions during a press conference in the No10 rose garden.

Mr Cummings offered no apology for driving 260 miles to his family's farm in Durham when his wife Mary's symptoms began on March 27.

Instead he said he believed "I have behaved reasonably" - because he feared his child could not be cared for if they both fell ill.

“No, I have not offered to resign," he declared. “I have not considered it.”

Mr Cummings revealed he went home to check on his wife when she fell ill on March 27 - only to return to 10 Downing Street, despite advice to isolate for 14 days if any household member has symptoms.

Hours later, they and their young son drove 260 miles to Durham. The next morning he fell ill with suspected coronavirus himself.

Mr Cummings admitted he drove from the Durham home to nearby Barnard Castle on Easter Sunday - a half hour drive. The trip happened on April 12, his wife Mary's 45th birthday.

He claimed it was on Day 15 since illness struck, and was to test his eyesight before going back to London down the A1.

He said his vision had been "a bit weird" so his wife suggested to "drive down the road" to check it.

“It was reasonable and sensible to make a short journey before embarking on a five hour drive”, he said.

Mr Cummings has been reported to police over the trip, which came at the same time people were advised only to leave their house to walk, cycle or run if they were exercising.

"We walked about 10-15 metres from the car to the river bank nearby. We sat there for about 15 minutes - we had no interactions with anybody," he said.

But he admitted his wife and child got out of the car midway home so his son could use the toilet.

"I wasn’t sightseeing. I didn’t go to the castle. I wasn’t walking around," he insisted. "We went for a test drive."

Mr Cummings said he sought medical advice before the trip back to London - but admitted he didn't before his 260-mile trip up to Durham.

Asked why he didn't just try to drive home, and turn back if he was feeling ill, he said: "We didn't think of doing that, to be honest. We thought 'let's whizz down the road and see how we feel'."

Mr Cummings said a witness who told the Sunday Mirror they saw Mr Cummings on April 19 in County Durham was mistaken, and that he did not return to work after returning to No10 on April 14.

Of the "inaccurate" claims, he claimed the media were “told they were wrong and reported them anyway”, despite No10 not responding before publication.

Mr Cummings admitted: “People like me who helped make the rules should be accountable for their actions”

But he denied breaking the rules, saying: "I did what I thought was the right thing to do."

Speaking at a grilling in the garden at Downing Street, he said: "I don't think there's one rule for other people, as I said I knew what the guidance was, it talks about exceptional circumstances with small children and I believe I behaved reasonably and legally."

Mr Cummings said he, his wife and son stayed for 14 days inside a separate property on his family's farm - leaving for a walk in the woods on private land, and then for the trip to Barnard Castle.

He also left the house to pick up his son from hospital, after he fell ill and Mr Cummings had to call 999. His son stayed one night in hospital.

Mr Cummings said "in a very complicated situation, I behaved reasonably".

He added he was uncomfortable about leaving his wife and child in their London home because he has been subject to "threats of violence".

“I thought the best thing to do in the circumstances was drive to an isolated cottage on my father’s farm," he said.

He said he did not ask the PM about his decision on March 27 - but told him the following week when they were both ill.

"In retrospect it would have been better to set this out earlier on," Mr Cummings admitted. "In retrospect I should have made this statement earlier."

The unprecedented statement in the No10 rose garden came after more than 20 Tory MPs demanded Mr Cummings resign or be sacked over his 260-mile drive to Durham in late March.

Furious members of the public said there was one rule for them and another for the PM's pals after they were firmly told to stay at home.

The press conference also prompted claims of rule-breaking in itself.

The Special Advisors Code of Conduct says 'Spads' "must not take public part in political controversy, through any form of statement whether in speeches or letters to the press, or in books, social media, articles or leaflets."

It adds: "They must observe discretion and express comment with moderation, avoiding personal attacks, and would not normally speak in public for their Minister or the Department."

After Number 10 said Mr Cummings' statement would be given from the Downing Street rose garden, shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth tweeted: "Why this is allowed in the Downing Street grounds funded by the taxpayer and not in complete contempt of the Special Advisor Code is beyond me.

"Just confirms yet again one rule for Boris Johnson's elite friends, another for the rest of us."

Boris Johnson claimed the top aide had simply used "a father's instinct" when crossing the nation with his wife Mary Wakefield and four-year-old son.

After "extensive" face-to-face talks, the PM last night made a furious attempt to save the Brexiteer svengali - who led the Vote Leave campaign and coined the phrase "take back control".

But bishops and experts condemned the Prime Minister's response - warning his "trashing" of lockdown rules could cause more deaths.

Stephen Reicher, a scientific advisor to the government, warned people would stop following advice because "government is looking after themselves in a way they’re not looking after us".

Prof Reicher added: “If adherence falls, the infection will rise and people will die.”

Bishop of Durham Paul Butler said: "Most who have worked so hard to abide by the rules and guidance of the past weeks will feel hurt, angry, & let down.

"Trust has been broken. For the nation’s sake rebuild it quickly."

Tory MP Sir Roger Gale said: "There cannot be one law for the Prime Minister’s staff and another for everyone else."

Fellow Tory Andrew Jones added: "It seems clear to me that Mr Cummings has broken the guidelines which we were and are all expected to follow."

Tory MP Tracey Crouch stopped short of calling for him to quit but said: “I am pretty peed off... [it] leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.”

She added: "I am not sure I have felt, in my ten years as an MP, so frustrated, cross, confused or impotent as I do now.

"I have had to tell people they can’t go to funerals, say goodbye to the ones they love, see the family newborns that they will grow to love, visit the graves of parents, siblings or worse, children, and visit friends who are dying."

Durham Police were today formally asked to "establish the facts" around Dominic Cummings' visit - including whether he broke the law.

Boris Johnson summoned a bank holiday meeting of his Cabinet this lunchtime in a frantic bid to move on from the row.

The Prime Minister could spell out more details of how non-essential shops will start to reopen from June 1.

He also announced England's primary schools will reopen to Years R, 1 and 6 as planned from June 1, though accepted not all of them will reopen.

But Labour leader Keir Starmer called for a Cabinet Office inquiry and said he'd have sacked Mr Cummings. SNP Westminster Leader Ian Blackford MP added: "Boris Johnson must sack Dominic Cummings."

And shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds today wrote to Home Secretary Priti Patel, asking if someone taking a child cross-country in case they need care later would be fined by police.

“The confusion and misinformation caused by the government’s response to these revelations appears to make this work even more difficult,” he said.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon added: "There is a risk that political interest is taking priority over the public interest."

The visit - exposed on Friday night by the Mirror and the Guardian - took place days after Boris Johnson imposed a UK-wide lockdown on March 23.

The PM announced people could only able to leave home for basic shopping, one exercise a day, a medical need or for work where necessary.

He said: "That’s all - these are the only reasons you should leave your home. You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home."

Yet the top aide, who earns just under £100,000 a year, drive 260 miles from his Islington home to a property near his sister and nieces.

He stayed there for around two weeks with his wife Mary Wakefield and four-year-old son while family members left supplies at the door.

This directly contradicted public statements by No10. On March 31 - when the top aide was in Durham - Boris Johnson's official spokesman told reporters Mr Cummings was "at home".

Defending the cross-country trip last night, Boris Johnson claimed Mr Cummings had "no alternative" for childcare if both he and his wife fell ill.

But No10 admitted Mr Cummings did not actually have symptoms when he made the trip up north - only his wife did at the time.

And by No10's own admission, he and his wife continued to care for their son while in isolation.

While there are exceptions for caring for a child, deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries suggested this would apply when there is "extreme risk to life".

Fresh allegations then emerged in the Sunday Mirror and Observer that Mr Cummings had gone on trips away from the property where he stayed.

A witness who saw him on April 12 in Barnard Castle, 30 miles away, reported the sighting to Durham Police.

The government had still not denied Mr Cummings made the Barnard Castle trip by 1pm today.

Another witness claimed to have seen him in nearby Houghall Woods on April 19 - five days after he returned to Downing Street.

Two Cabinet ministers, Grant Shapps and Gavin Williamson, claimed that trip did not happen.

Education Secretary Mr Williamson told Sky News: "If he’s made it clear to the PM that he didn’t break the law, I absolutely believe that assurance. You wouldn’t expect someone to be not giving the absolute categoric truth to the Prime Minister."

Confronted by reporters over the weekend, Mr Cummings insisted he "behaved reasonably and legally" and said he should "obviously not" resign.

Who is Dominic Cummings?

Tonight's statement was the climax of a long Westminster career for Mr Cummings - whose time in power has been dogged by outrage and scandal.

Privately educated in Durham, he graduated from Oxford University in 1994 and briefly moved to Russia, before moving back to the UK to campaign against joining the Euro.

In 2007 he started working for Michael Gove - where as special advisor he was branded a "career psychopath" by David Cameron.

He and Mr Gove took on teachers and unions, which Mr Cummings branded "the blob".

And the pair were accused of trying to use private email addresses to avoid disclosing communications under the Freedom of Information Act.

Mr Cummings' breakout from backroom advisor to front page news began after he was appointed director of Vote Leave when it was founded in 2015.

He was considered the "mastermind" of the 2016 EU referendum campaign, coming up with famous slogans such as "Take Back Control", and strategies such as the NHS Brexit bus.

Benedict Cumberbatch played him in a TV portrayal of Vote Leave - which was marred by rows over misleading figures and fronted by Boris Johnson and Mr Gove.

But he had angry fallings-out with Tory MPs in the Brexiteer camp who disapproved of his methods and feared he risked losing the vote.

He branded Tory Brexiteers in the European Research Group "useful idiots", called top Tory David Davis "thick as mince", claimed some Tory Brexiteers spent the referendum "chasing girls" and other Brexiteer economists were "charlatans".

Vote Leave was later fined £61,000 for electoral offences during the referendum.

There is no suggestion Mr Cummings was personally responsible, but the former Vote Leave chief repeatedly refused to answer MPs' questions.

In 2019 he was found to be in contempt of Parliament for refusing to give evidence to a committee of MPs investigating "fake news".

Mr Cummings retreated from the public eye until his explosive return last summer, when he joined new Prime Minister Boris Johnson's team in No10.

His dishevelled frame, never wearing a suit, became a regular sight outside the black front door.

Once in Downing Street Mr Cummings wielded an iron fist, often straying beyond the usual brief for back room special advisors.

Sonia Khan, an aide to then-Chancellor Sajid Javid, was marched out of Downing Street by armed police after being sacked on the spot by Mr Cummings.

She is thought to have launched an unfair dismissal claim, and an HR manager for Spads was later hired to ensure the Code of Conduct is followed.

In January he posted a bizarre 2,900-word job advert for " weirdos and misfits " on his own personal blog - which had become notorious in SW1 for lengthy diatribes on the issues of the day.

He said applicants would have no time for a boyfriend or girlfriend and adding: "I’ll bin you within weeks if you don’t fit - don’t complain later because I made it clear now.”

One of his hires, Andrew Sabisky, 27, resigned after it emerged he had made controversial past comments.

The researcher had compared women’s sport to the paralympics, dismissed concerns over female genital mutilation and described a series of female politicians as “dim”. He defended his comments but blamed a media storm.

Mr Cummings repeatedly cast himself as a voice of real Brits outside the elite of Westminster - claiming "rich Remainers" were trying to stop Brexit happening.

Critics pointed to his own wealth.

He and his wife Mary Wakefield - whose father, Sir Humphrey, owned a castle - bought their Islington townhouse for £1.65m in 2013 and later applied to extend it.

The luxurious home features a separate 'Tapestry Room', 'Reading Room' and 'Formal Living Room'.

But he did not let the apparent contradiction get in the way of his contempt for the press - who he characterised as anti-Brexit.

He told the press outside his home over the weekend: "Who cares about good looks? It's a question of doing the right thing. It's not about what you guys think."