UNDER SIEGE
Dominic Cummings reveals threats of violence to home after false claims he opposed lockdown in favour of herd immunity
by Tariq Tahir
DOMINIC Cummings has said he received threats of violence to his home after false claims he opposed lockdown in favour of herd immunity.
The Prime Minister’s top aide made the revelation as he defended himself over his 260-mile trip to Durham during lockdown.
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The defence of his actions comes amid calls for him to resign or be sacked by Mr Johnson for travelling to County Durham in March to self-isolate with his family after his wife developed coronavirus symptoms.
Speaking in the rose garden of Downing Street, Mr Cummings said stories had suggested he had opposed lockdown and "did not care about many deaths”.
"The truth is that I had argued for lockdown,” he said.
"I did not oppose it, but these stories had created a very bad atmosphere around my home, I was subjected to threats of violence, people came to my house shouting threats, there were posts on social media encouraging attacks."
Mr Cummings said he was worried that "this situation would get worse".
ARGUED FOR LOCKDOWN
"I was worried about the possibility of leaving my wife and child at home all day and often into the night while I worked in Number 10,” he said.
"I thought the best thing to do in all the circumstances was to drive to an isolated cottage on my father's farm.”
Mr Cummings also said allegations he returned to Durham for a second visit after April 14 are “false”.
He conceded that "reasonable people may well disagree about how I thought about what to do in the circumstances", but said: "I don't regret what I did."
"I think what I did was actually reasonable in these circumstances," he said.
"The rules made clear that if you are dealing with small children that can be exceptional circumstances.
"And I think that the situation that I was in was exceptional circumstances and the way that I dealt with it was the least risk to everybody concerned if my wife and I had both been unable to look after our four-year-old."
