Many of you have written to me about Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister's special adviser. I have included my response to these correspondence below.
Thank you for getting in touch about Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s special adviser.
The lockdown period has made enormous demands of everyone and many constituents have gone to enormous effort to act within the spirit and letter of the rules, in order to save lives and keep themselves, their neighbours and their community as safe as possible. I have been in daily contact with local organisations from the police, NHS, and schools, to volunteers and charities who have been part of this national effort. The sacrifices made are hopefully paying off as we see numbers of new cases and deaths reducing, but there is no room for complacency.
Whilst the facts of Mr Cummings’ situation are disputed and there are ongoing investigations, it is important in my view not to engage in trial by media. However, I have conveyed the strength of feeling locally to relevant colleagues and my own view, through the appropriate channels, that Mr Cummings should step down. I would of course welcome an independent investigation to establish the facts, something which any constituent finding themselves in difficulty would be entitled to ask for.
We must be able to return our focus to the progress which continues to be made, as a result of the sacrifices we have all endured.
