Boris Johnson washes his hands over Dominic Cummings scandal

Boris Johnson has admitted he regrets the ‘confusion and pain’ the Dominic Cummings scandal has caused the British public – but has continued to back his chief adviser.

It comes after Mr Cummings defended his actions earlier and said he didn’t consider resigning over travelling 260 miles to Durham after his wife fell ill with coronavirus symptoms on March 27. The PM stood by his top aide and said he did not believe he had broken essential lockdown rules, adding that the best way the public can protect themselves from the virus is to keep washing hands.

In a highly unusual press conference in the rose garden of No 10, Mr Cummings said he did not regret his actions and did not offer to resign, insisting he ‘behaved responsibly’. When the PM was asked by journalists if he had any regrets over what happened, he responded: ‘Yes of course, I do regret the confusion and anger and the pain that people feel.’

The prime minister also shut down claims that the police had spoken to Mr Cummings’ family, just hours after Durham Constabulary released a fresh statement earlier confirming they had a conversation on April 1. It is the second time No 10 has rubbished the forces’s statements on the matter.

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Mr Johnson reiterated that he believed Mr Cummings acted ‘legally’ and ‘with integrity’ and was simply doing the best by his family, after his chief aide repeatedly drew on the ‘extreme circumstances’ he claimed to be facing with childcare for his four-year-old son.

Mr Cummings said he made the trip to his parents’ home in Durham as he had been worried he and his wife would become too ill to take care of their son, though he did not come into contact with anyone while there, he said.

Journalists pointed out that many UK families have complained to their MPs and on social media that they had not been able to say goodbye to loved ones and that many parents had to look after their children while unwell.

However, Mr Johnson stressed he did not believe that any of his staff in Downing Street had done anything to undermine the country’s crucial lockdown messaging.

When asked if his support for Mr Cummings’ was ‘unconditional’, he responded: ‘I cannot give unconditional backing to anybody, but I do not believe anybody in No 10 has done anything to undermine our message’.

Mr Cummings earlier admitted he went for a 30-mile drive to test his vision, which he said had been affected by Covid-19 symptoms, before making the long drive back from Durham to London after self-isolating in a separate cottage on his parents’ farm.

The PM backed him up saying his own eyesight had been affected by coronavirus.

He said: ‘I’m finding that I have to wear spectacles for the first time in years – I think because of the effects of this thing – so I’m inclined to think there’s some … I think that’s very, very plausible that eyesight can be a problem associated with coronavirus.’

But the chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales took to social media to warn people not to get behind the wheel if they feel unwell or their eyesight is impaired.

John Apter wrote on Twitter: ‘Folks, I say this in all sincerity and as an important road safety issue.

‘If you’re feeling unwell and your eyesight may be impaired do not drive your vehicle to test your ability to drive. It’s not a wise move.

‘As a former road death investigator with Hampshire police I have investigated many serious collisions, including fatalities.

‘Some of these were caused by drivers with impaired vision, this is a serious issue. Do not drive if your eyesight is impaired or you feel unwell.’

The PM said he had been told that Mr Cummings had decided to drive Durham to isolate while he was himself ill but had not ‘focused’ on what happened at the time as he ‘had a lot on my plate’.

‘I didn’t know about any of the arrangements in advance,’ Mr Johnson said.

‘What I think did happen was while I was ill, and about to get a lot sicker, we had a brief conversation in which I think Dominic Cummings mentioned where he was.

‘But I have to tell you, at that particular stage I had a lot on my plate and really didn’t focus on the matter until these stories started to emerge in the last few days.’

Mr Cummings had said earlier today that he did not inform the PM of his decision to head to his parents’ home in the north-east, adding he ‘didn’t want to bother’ Mr Johnson who ‘had a lot on his plate’.

After facing more scrutiny by the press over Mr Cummings’ earlier statement, the prime minister said he did not want to comment further on the matter.

Mr Johnson responded: ‘I have to tell you that to the best of my knowledge, Mr Cummings has just subjected himself to your interrogation for quite a long time now about these very detailed matters and has produced quite a substantial chunk of autobiography about what happened in the period from March 27 to April 14.

‘I really feel that it would be wrong of me to try to comment further on what he said. People will have to make their minds up.’

The nation was left outraged over the weekend when fresh allegations emerged suggesting Mr Cummings visited Barnard Castle, 30 miles away from where he was staying, on April 12.

Downing Street confirmed that Mr Cummings then returned to London on April 14, but another witness claims they saw him in the woods near Houghall, back in County Durham, on April 19.

Mr Cummings denied media reports that he made a second trip to the north-east, adding that he had not left London again once returning to work.

But he said while travelling back to the capital after isolating in Durham, he and his family went on a ‘short drive’ and ‘ended up’ at Barnard Castle to test if his eyes were up to the 260 mile drive home.

‘We agreed that we should go for a short drive to see if I could drive safely, we drove for roughly half an hour and ended up on the outskirts of Barnard Castle town,’ he said.

‘We did not visit the castle, we did not walk around the town.’

Mr Cummings said he had felt a ‘bit sick’ so they had walked about 10 to 15 metres to the riverbank where they sat for about 15 minutes until he felt better, but that he had no other interaction.

The family returned to London on April 13, and he went back to work the next day, Mr Cummings said.

In the hour-long press conference, Mr Cummings declined to apologise for his actions, but conceded that ‘reasonable people may well disagree about how I thought about what to do in the circumstances’.

However, he said: ‘I don’t regret what I did… I think what I did was actually reasonable in these circumstances. The rules made clear that if you are dealing with small children that can be exceptional circumstances’.

A spokesman for the Labour Party said: ‘The British people were looking for at least an apology from Dominic Cummings for breaking the lockdown. They got none.

‘Millions of people have made extraordinary sacrifices during the lockdown. Families have been forced apart, sometimes in the most tragic of circumstances. They stayed at home to protect the NHS and save lives.

‘And yet, the message from this Government is clear: it’s one rule for Boris Johnson’s closest adviser, another for everybody else.’

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