Dominic Cummings' lockdown trip - what do we know?
Dominic Cummings: What did he do during lockdown?
(about 20 hours later)
The prime minister's most senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, has come under fire after it was revealed he travelled from London to Durham with his wife, who had coronavirus symptoms, during the lockdown.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's most senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, is facing calls to resign after being accused of breaking lockdown rules.
Here is what we know about the details of the controversy.
Downing Street says some of the claims against him are "false" and cabinet minister Grant Shapps says Mr Cummings - who has been seen going into No 10 - will not quit.
What happened?
What are the key dates?
On 27 March, Downing Street confirmed that Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock had tested positive for coronavirus.
What has Mr Cummings said?
Shortly after the announcement, Mr Cummings was seen running out of No 10.
Speaking to reporters outside his home in London on Saturday morning, he said he had done the "right thing" by travelling with his wife and young son to be near relatives when she developed Covid-19 symptoms at the end of March.
On 30 March, Downing Street confirmed the top adviser was self-isolating at home after developing symptoms.
When asked whether his trip to Durham "looked good", he said: "Who cares about good looks? It's a question of doing the right thing. It's not about what you guys think."
Mr Cummings, along with his wife, Mary Wakefield, and their child, drove 260 miles from his home in London to County Durham to isolate - although the date of the trip is not clear.
Asked whether he would reconsider his position, he said: "Obviously not."
However, Durham Constabulary said it was made aware on 31 March that an individual had travelled from London to Durham and was present at an address in the city.
What does No 10 say?
A spokesman for the force said officers made contact with the owners of the address who confirmed the individual in question was present and was self-isolating in part of the house.
Downing Street issued an initial statement about the Durham trip. It said:
On 14 April, Mr Cummings was seen returning to Downing Street for the first time since isolating.
"Owing to his wife being infected with suspected coronavirus and the high likelihood that he would himself become unwell, it was essential for Dominic Cummings to ensure his young child could be properly cared for.
What were the lockdown rules?
"His sister and nieces had volunteered to help so he went to a house near to but separate from his extended family in case their help was needed. His sister shopped for the family and left everything outside.
At the time of Mr Cummings' trip, the whole of the UK was in the "stay at home" part of lockdown.
"At no stage was he or his family spoken to by the police about this matter, as is being reported. His actions were in line with coronavirus guidelines. Mr Cummings believes he behaved reasonably and legally."
This meant you were only allowed to leave the house to:
It then issued a further statement addressing the second set of allegations: "Yesterday the Mirror and Guardian wrote inaccurate stories about Mr Cummings.
However, the government advice said, if you had symptoms, you had to stay isolated in your home for seven days from when the symptoms began, with any other members of the household having to isolate for 14 days in case they had contracted the virus.
"Today they are writing more inaccurate stories including claims that Mr Cummings returned to Durham after returning to work in Downing Street on 14 April. We will not waste our time answering a stream of false allegations about Mr Cummings from campaigning newspapers."
You were not allowed to see family or friends from other households if you had symptoms and also told not to travel anywhere.
Commenting on claims Mr Cummings was seen in Durham on 19 May, Mr Shapps said: "Some of these stories are trying to suggest that he went up, he came back, he went up - three times I've seen suggested - and again my understanding is that's not the case."
Asked on 10 April what you do if two parents are sick and you can't look after your child, deputy chief medical officer for England, Jenny Harries, said: "Clearly if you have adults who are unable to look after a small child, that is an exceptional circumstance.
What are others saying?
"And if the individuals do not have access to care support, formal care support, or to family, they will be able to work through their local authority hubs."
Daily Mirror political editor Pippa Crerar told the BBC on Sunday the paper stood by its reporting.
What have Cummings and his wife said?
Mr Shapps said Mr Cummings had no plans to resign - though he admitted he had not spoken directly with him as of Sunday morning.
The only comments Mr Cummings has made since the story came out were to reporters outside his London address.
A number of Conservative MPs said Mr Cummings should step down.
He said he had "behaved reasonably and legally", and when asked whether it looked good, he said: "Who cares about good looks? It's a question of doing the right thing. It's not about what you guys think."
Backbench Tory MP Steve Baker called for the senior adviser to resign: "The country can't afford this nonsense, this pantomime, Dominic should go and we should move on and deal with things that matter in people's lives."
Later he said the media were wrong to suggest the public would be upset by his actions, likening it to the issue of Brexit during the 2016 referendum that he helped win.
Another Tory MP Simon Hoare has called for Mr Cummings to "consider his position" and Tory MP Damian Collins has said the government "would be better without him".
Ms Wakefield - commissioning editor at the Spectator - wrote an article for the magazine during the pair's isolation, describing their experiences of the virus.
Labour's shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said the government should launch an inquiry to establish the facts of what Mr Cummings did during lockdown and called on Mr Johnson to answer questions on the matter.
She said that she "felt breathless, sometimes achy", but that her husband had "collapsed... and couldn't get out of bed."
The Scottish National Party's Ian Blackford called for Mr Cummings to go immediately, while Lib Dem acting leader Sir Ed Davey said the PM's judgment would be called into question if he did not sack Mr Cummings.
She wrote: "Day in, day out for 10 days he lay doggo with a high fever and spasms that made the muscles lump and twitch in his legs. He could breathe, but only in a limited, shallow way."
Prior to the latest allegations, cabinet ministers including Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and the Chancellor Rishi Sunak expressed their support for Mr Cummings.
Ms Wakefield also spoke to BBC Radio 4's Today programme on 25 April about the couple's experience, but did not say they had left their London home.
However, she has not commented on the latest revelations about where they isolated.
How have the government responded?
After not commenting on the story when it was reported by the Daily Mirror and the Guardian on Friday night, Downing Street released a statement on Saturday, giving more detail.
It said: "Owing to his wife being infected with suspected coronavirus and the high likelihood that he would himself become unwell, it was essential for Dominic Cummings to ensure his young child could be properly cared for.
"His sister and nieces had volunteered to help so he went to a house near to but separate from his extended family in case their help was needed.
"His sister shopped for the family and left everything outside."
No 10 said "at no stage" were Mr Cummings or his family spoken to by the police.
And the statement also said his actions had been "in line with coronavirus guidelines", repeating Mr Cummings' statement that he "behaved reasonably and legally".
At the daily Downing Street briefing, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: "I can tell you the PM provides Mr Cummings with his full support."
And a number of cabinet ministers tweeted their support for Mr Cummings, with many of them using the word "reasonable" to describe his actions.
The health secretary, Mr Hancock, tweeted: "I know how ill coronavirus makes you. It was entirely right for Dom Cummings to find childcare for his toddler, when both he and his wife were getting ill."
How have others reacted?
Labour said Mr Cummings "appears to believe that it is one rule for him and another for the British people".
A spokesman for the party said No 10's statement about the chief adviser's actions "raises more questions than it answers", adding: "We are still unclear who knew about this decision and when, whether this was sanctioned by the prime minister and whether No 10 is now questioning the validity of the statement from Durham Police."
They said they expected answers to these questions" at the government's daily press briefing.
The SNP have called for Mr Cummings to be sacked and that both he and the PM "have serious questions to answer".
The party's Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, has written to the head of the Civil Service, Sir Mark Sedwill, calling for a "swift investigation into Dominic Cummings' rule-breaking and the Tory government's cover-up".
Durham Police and Crime Commissioner, Steve White, said it had been "most unwise" for Mr Cummings to make the journey, "given the whole ethos" of the government's guidance.
