Dominic Cummings acted reasonably in making a 264-mile lockdown trip to Durham, according to Michael Gove, who also defended the aide’s claim that a separate drive to a local beauty spot was to test his eyesight.
Asked why Cummings did not apologise during his press conference yesterday, Gove told BBC Breakfast: “I think Dominic completely understands the concern people felt as the story broke. I think the account that he gave yesterday was exhaustive, it was detailed, it was verifiable and I think that people will make their own mind up as they listened to Dominic’s account or they read about it subsequently.
And I think most people will understand he was someone who was under pressure, who sought to put the health of his wife and his son first and who took care to ensure, as a unit, as a family unit, were not in danger of infecting other people.”
Gove, who said he was not aware of Cummings being in Durham until the story broke, added: “As people will have had the chance to hear yesterday, they will know from his own account that he was acting in a way that sought to safeguard his family, sought to … reduce the risk of infection to anyone else and which took account of a range of circumstances. People will make their own mind up, and as Dominic Cummings himself said, there will be many people who will think his actions were wrong or mistaken but, looking at it in the round, I think his actions were reasonable.”
Challenged on Cummings’ explanation that he drove to Barnard Castle, a local beauty spot 30 miles from Durham, to test his eyesight out on his wife’s birthday, Gove said:
First thing to say is that Dominic had received medical advice, senior medical advice, saying that he was safe to return to work at that point. It was more than 14 days after he had first shown symptoms of the virus. It was important, he believed, that he returned to work and, certainly, it’s the case that his dedication to work is phenomenal. He wanted to make sure that before he took the journey down the A1 that he was safe to drive and, of course, during the course of that journey he confirmed to himself that he was safe to drive.”
When highlighted that driving when your eyesight is not good enough is an offence under the Road Traffic Act, Gove replied: “Dominic’s eyesight was good enough, that was the whole point of the journey, to determine that he could drive safely.”
Pressed again over whether he was entirely happy with Cummings’ explanation – especially given the trip to Barnard Castle was on his wife’s birthday – Gove replied: “Yes, but, to my mind I can’t see the relevance of that. He drove to Barnard Castle, the family stopped, he walked a few yards, sat on a bench for a short period of time, then walked back to the car and then drove back to his home. So, I think the fact that it also happens was Easter Sunday was immaterial.”
