Voice of the Mirror: Sorry hardest word for Cummings whose self-pity will con nobody

Sorry proved to be the hardest word for arrogant Dominic Cummings as he haughtily refused to apologise for turning from rule maker to rule breaker.

His pathetic groping for loopholes to justify his reckless 260-mile drive from London to Co Durham while his wife displayed possible coronavirus symptoms, will fool nobody.

Cummings, who made an extraordinary appearance in Downing Street’s garden to give his side of the saga, broke both the rules and the spirit of the rules.

At one point he risibly maintained he drove to beautiful Barnard Castle to test his eyes. If they needed testing, he shouldn’t have been behind the wheel.

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The self-pity of the Prime Minister’s chief adviser will con nobody, particularly the tens of millions who did follow the rules – as a result enduring the agony of not going to the bedside of a dying loved one or to funerals.

His behaviour was a prime example of Downing Street’s elite acting as if the rules they set for us don’t apply to them.

Splashdown

The crowded beaches show a country voting with its feet on a lockdown the Tory elite in Downing Street didn’t observe.

We urge people to keep a safe distance from those they don’t live with. With no vaccine available, slowing and stopping the disease’s spread is the only way to defeat it.

Many now flocking to the beaches did Stay Home as the PM’s closest aide disobeyed that instruction and stayed on his father’s estate.

Boris Johnson’s refusal to acknowledge he’s ruined his own lockdown by not sacking Cummings is sticking his head in the sand.

Tale of the tape

It's Back to the Future during lockdown as people are watching videos again and re-running past pleasures.

Sit together in front of the telly while chatting about the miners’ strike dressed like Madonna or Princess Diana and it’ll feel like the real thing.