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| Dominic Cummings 'might have broken lockdown rules' - police | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| PM aide Dominic Cummings' trip to Barnard Castle "might have been a minor breach" of lockdown rules, Durham Police has said. | |
| But the force said no retrospective action would be taken against the PM's chief adviser. | But the force said no retrospective action would be taken against the PM's chief adviser. |
| Mr Cummings has said he had acted "reasonably" and within the law after travelling 260 miles from London to Durham during the coronavirus lockdown. | Mr Cummings has said he had acted "reasonably" and within the law after travelling 260 miles from London to Durham during the coronavirus lockdown. |
| Number 10 said the PM now "regards this issue as closed". | Number 10 said the PM now "regards this issue as closed". |
| About 40 Tory MPs called for Mr Cummings to resign or be fired after his journey came to light, but the prime minister said on Wednesday that it was time to "move on" from the row. | |
| In a statement, Durham Police said they view Mr Cummings' 50-mile round trip to Barnard Castle with his wife and son as "minor" because there was no apparent breach of social distancing rules during their visit. | |
| The force said it had "no intention to take retrospective action in respect of the Barnard Castle incident", since this would amount to "treating Mr Cummings differently from other members of the public." | |
| The statement confirmed that the force had not taken retrospective action against any other person. | |
| On the issue of whether it was an offence for Mr Cummings to drive himself and his family from London to Durham to isolate on his family's farm, Durham Police said it did "not consider an offence was committed". | |
| Reports that Mr Cummings was seen in Durham on 19 April, suggesting a second trip from London, could not be support by evidence, the police statement added. | |
| Mr Cummings has denied he was in Durham on that date. | |
| 'Slippery slope' | |
| Reacting to the police statement, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said by not dealing with Mr Cummings "in a strong way" Boris Johnson had "showed himself to be weak". | |
| "But more importantly, what I'm worried about is that people might think well if Cummings doesn't have to abide by the rules, why do I have to?" He said. | |
| "Then you're on a slippery slope. The real risk here is that we lose control of the rules." | |
| SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said Mr Johnson "has no choice but to remove him from post". | |
| "This is now a matter of the prime minister's own integrity - and his overriding responsibility to protect public health and trust in his government," Mr Blackford said. |