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UK coronavirus live: Tory MPs call for Dominic Cummings to resign as he goes to No 10 UK coronavirus live: Tory MPs call for Dominic Cummings to resign as he goes to No 10
(32 minutes later)
Conservative MPs call for advisor to resign amid revelations of further breaches of lockdown rulesConservative MPs call for advisor to resign amid revelations of further breaches of lockdown rules
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth has called for a full explanation of the Cummings affair, adding that what “we’ve had so far has had more holes in it than a block of Swiss cheese”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend:
Johnson, he said, should “not hide away, should come out today at the press conference and give us a full explanation as to Mr Cummings’ behaviour”.
He added:
This is Aaron Walawalkar in London here – taking over while my colleague Jedidajah Otte has a quick break and the Cummings saga continues to unfold. Please DM me any updates you have on Twitter at @AaronWala.
Conservative MP Robert Halfon has apologised for tweeting his support of Dominic Cummings on Saturday and said the PM’s aide should “face the consequences of breaking the law”.
In a statement on his Facebook page, the MP for Harlow said:
Here is the tweet which Halfon is apologising for:
His statement on Sunday added:
London mayor Sadiq Khan has reminded people in the capital not to forget that lockdown has not ben lifted over the bank holiday weekend, and has asked them to “stay at home as much as possible”.
The petition calling for the sacking of Dominic Cummings has garnered nearly 55,000 signatures, most of these just over the past few hours.
The hashtag #sackcummings is trending on Twitter.
But so far, there is no sign from No 10 that anything like this will happen.
A former chief constable of Durham police has meanwhile launched a strident attack on Cummings and the government defending him, branding them self-privileged hypocrites who have damaged the fight against coronavirus at a time of national emergency.
Mike Barton, who stepped down as chief constable last year, said that the government’s defence of Cummings was causing extensive damage as police try to get the public to obey lockdown rules.
My colleague Vikram Dodd has more.
This from ITV’s Robert Peston:
The Labour party has just gone on the offensive and tweeted this:
From ITV’s Paul Brand:From ITV’s Paul Brand:
This from the Telegraph’s Tony Diver:This from the Telegraph’s Tony Diver:
The Conservative MP Roger Gale had told Sky he thinks Cummings is “dead in the water” if his second trip to Durham can be confirmed.The Conservative MP Roger Gale had told Sky he thinks Cummings is “dead in the water” if his second trip to Durham can be confirmed.
He said it was “about trust”, and that he’d like to see the prime minister announcing Cummings’ resignation at the government’s presser this afternoon. He said it was “about trust”, and that he’d like to see the prime minister announcing Cummings’s resignation at the government’s presser this afternoon.
“Mr Cummings broke his own rules, [...] and there are thousands and thousands of families in similar situations,” he said. “Mr Cummings broke his own rules, […] and there are thousands and thousands of families in similar situations,” he said.
Gale said he could understand why other MPs and cabinet ministers had initially defended Cummings, as they had understood he was merely trying to make arrangements to care for his young child.Gale said he could understand why other MPs and cabinet ministers had initially defended Cummings, as they had understood he was merely trying to make arrangements to care for his young child.
“I think an honourable man would fall on his sword at this point,” Gale said. “The prime minister has got to deal with this. I don’t think Mr Cummings is doing him any favours.”“I think an honourable man would fall on his sword at this point,” Gale said. “The prime minister has got to deal with this. I don’t think Mr Cummings is doing him any favours.”
A British man has been detained in an Indian prison after being accused of breaching the country’s strict coronavirus lockdown rules, my colleague Nazia Parveen reports.A British man has been detained in an Indian prison after being accused of breaching the country’s strict coronavirus lockdown rules, my colleague Nazia Parveen reports.
Sohail Hughes, 29, had been on an extended holiday to visit family in the Gujarat region before undertaking a pilgrimage of mosques when he was detained last month.Sohail Hughes, 29, had been on an extended holiday to visit family in the Gujarat region before undertaking a pilgrimage of mosques when he was detained last month.
His family, who have a launched a petition to have him freed, have claimed he is being unlawfully held by Indian officials.His family, who have a launched a petition to have him freed, have claimed he is being unlawfully held by Indian officials.
An emergency medicine consultant has joined the scores of people venting their anger and disbelief about Dominic Cummings’ ignoring of lockdown rules, and has just tweeted this:An emergency medicine consultant has joined the scores of people venting their anger and disbelief about Dominic Cummings’ ignoring of lockdown rules, and has just tweeted this:
This just in from my colleague Richard Adams, the Guardian’s education editor.
Labour’s Ian Murray has condemned a lack of transparency from both the UK and Scottish governments as the further impact of coronavirus cases linked to a Nike conference in Edinburgh came to light.
More than 70 employees from around the world attended the event at the Hilton Carlton Hotel on 26-27 February, PA Media reports.
My colleagues Andrew Sparrow and Mattha Busby reported on Wednesday that Nicola Sturgeon had denied the Scottish government tried to cover up coronavirus cases linked to a Nike conference in Edinburgh in late February.
In angry exchanges at first minister questions, Sturgeon accused the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Jackson Carlaw, of unfairly impugning her integrity and that of health officials by suggesting this early outbreak was hushed up.
Investigations found that at least 25 people linked to the event contracted Covid-19, including eight in Scotland, but the incident was not made public until it was revealed in a television documentary earlier this month.
The first coronavirus case in Scotland was announced on 1 March and was a Tayside resident unrelated to the conference.
But the Sunday Times says it has been reported locally that the north-east of England’s “patient zero” attended the conference in February and the infection was passed to a second person in Newcastle at a child’s birthday party.
The Chronicle newspaper also states that a church in Newcastle closed after a member tested positive for coronavirus, with it being “understood the patient works for Nike in Sunderland and contracted the virus after attending a conference in Edinburgh” - although this was unconfirmed at the time.
In a further report on Sunday, the Scottish Sun said one staff member at the Sunderland base contracted the virus after the Edinburgh conference.
Murray, Labour’s only MP in Scotland, said:
An unnamed Bournemouth player has tested positive for Covid-19, the Premier League club announced on Sunday, becoming the eighth case involving an English top-flight club.
Bournemouth added the player’s identity would not be disclosed due to “medical confidentiality” and that he would self-isolate for seven day, according to AFP.
“Following strict adherence to the Premier League’s return to training regulations, the club’s training ground remains a safe working environment for players and backroom staff, who will continue to be tested for Covid-19 twice per week,” Bournemouth said in a club statement.
The Premier League announced on Saturday that there were positive tests at two clubs out of 996 tests conducted on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
The other positive was at a different club that has not been named.
That followed a first round of testing that produced six positive findings announced on 19 May at three Premier League clubs from a total of 748 players and staff tested,
Those positives included Watford’s Adrian Mariappa and Burnley assistant manager Ian Woan.
The SNP’s Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, told Sky: “[Cummings] has to go and the prime minister has to sack him.”
Cummings had broken lockdown regulations, he said, and broken advice everyone had been given by the government.
“He is the architect of much of what the prime minister says and delivers,” Blackford said, adding it would be “a failure of leadership and a failure of judgment” if Boris Johnson does not ask for Dominic Cummings’ resignation.
The Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood has called on Boris Johnson to show personal leadership in a “formal address”.
Simon Hoare, the Conservative MP for North Dorset, told Sky there is now “growing disquiet amongst ministers at all levels” over Cummings’ rule breaching.
This just in from ITV’s Paul Brand:
This from the Times’ head of news, Katherine Faulkner:
This is an interesting point by Sky News’s Joe Pike:
A Belfast hospital is ready to contend with a potential second surge of the coronavirus pandemic, a senior official told PA Media.
The Mater hospital is caring for a number of patients as they recover from Covid-19, a process that can take weeks to months.
There have been 4,469 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Northern Ireland so far, with numbers of patients in hospitals dropping at the end of the first surge.
According to Department of Health figures on Saturday, there have been 505 deaths of patients with Covid-19.
As lockdown measures begin to be relaxed, Liz McAlea, interim co-director of unscheduled care at the Belfast trust, said officials are prepared for a second surge if it comes.
“Now that everything has calmed down quite a bit as in numbers wise, we are still in preparedness for a second wave if another surge was to come,” she said.
“Although we have turned some of our wards into non-Covid wards, within the Mater we’re still prepared in case there is a second surge.
“I think we did really well, we had up to 105 patients with Covid-19 within the Mater Hospital, with 16 ventilated, and coped very well. Those numbers have gone down but we’re reassured that we’re prepared and the Nightingale is ready to step up again.”
The Mater was the first centre in Northern Ireland for coronavirus patients before the Nightingale facility at the City hospital opened with access to more than 200 ventilators.
McAlea said “thankfully” that level of capacity was not needed.