Politics

Therese Coffey raises Dominic Cummings’s infamous Barnard Castle lockdown trip in retaliatory war against PM’s former aide


Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey highlighted the journey which the then No10 senior aide defended in an extraordinary press conference in the No10 Rose Garden.

Mr Cummings was widely condemned for the trip. But Boris Johnson stood by his then top adviser at the time as he argued that he took a 25-mile drive to Barnard Castle to test his eyesight before driving back to London.

The controversial aide had earlier driven his family from London to Durham, at the end of March 2020, to stay at his father’s farm after his wife fell ill with suspected coronavirus.

Mr Johnson and the Conservative Party are fighting a growing “sleaze” storm after a bombshell blog by Mr Cummings last week made damning claims about the refurbishment of the Prime Minister’s Downing Street flat, an inquiry into the leaking of plans for a second lockdown, and the Prime Minister’s conduct.

During a media round this morning, Ms Coffey made reference to the trip to County Durham while speaking to at least two news outlets, a sign which suggested it was part of a co-ordinated campaign to discredit Mr Cummings.

Asked about Mr Cummings on Sky News, she said: “A lot of people will have seen Dominic Cummings for the first time ever last year when he gave a press conference in the Rose Garden in No10.

“They will have come to their own views I’m sure the public, and meanwhile the Prime Minister continues to get on with the key things that really do matter to people, the people’s priorities.”

Appearing shortly afterwards on Times Radio, she made similar comments, stressing: “I expect most of your listeners will have interacted with Dominic Cummings for the first time last year when he gave his press conference in the Rose Garden.”

Dominic Cummings answering questions from the media last May following his lockdown trip to Barnard Castle

/ REUTERS



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