I see there are now police outside the Cummings house, as there could have been at any time he'd wanted them. But he wanted us to see those images of him struggling out with his son's bike through a mob of journalists to support the 'security/danger/child care' account he was to give for going up to Durham back in March. Downing Street didn't help by refusing to answer enquiries about where Cummings actually was, so it's not surprising journalists took steps to find out, not that it was difficult to guess that he'd be on his parent's estate near Durham. It's the self-justification, sense of entitlement and unpreparedness to admit to any mistake that most people find so offensive, such as the 'common sense/fatherly instinct' justification for the trip, the legalistic reliance on an obscure footnote in the regulations, and the fanciful explanation for the family outing to Bernard's Castle. If he'd have said it was a time of great stress so he did what he thought was best at the time but with hindsight he now realises it was a mistake, for which he apologises, most people would be happy. If he'd have gone the other way and said he had a vital role in the government of the country so obviously it's only practical that different rules apply to him and his family, then that would at least have been honest. But we got neither, which is typical of the man and this government.
Peter Evans ● 2351d