The UK is right to feel collectively betrayed and condemn the Government’s stance- especially at a time like this

Chaos continued at the weekend after the PM’s chief advisor Dominic Cummings broke Coronavirus lockdown rules. Despite his actions being hypocritical, Boris Johnson made exceptions for him and defended him during a press conference yesterday.

Although there are a minority of people who do not see the issue with the rules Cummings broke, the majority of the UK are up in arms with anger, disappointment, and mistrust as the collective spirit that has been built up across the nation during the COVID 19 pandemic has been destroyed. The UK had the message of ‘stay at home, do not go out unless you absolutely have to’ drilled and reinforced into them with press conferences, news articles, and official government messaging appearing on their TV screens and across posters in their towns and cities. With the majority of the nation obeying these laws, it meant that families had to miss out on funerals of loved ones, fathers had to miss the birth of their children and elderly residents in care homes had to pass away without any loved ones around them to bring them peace. It’s totally distasteful for somebody in the government to go against their own rules, believe they are powerful enough to be an exception, and then have the PM back them up on a televised conference where families were watching with disgust and contempt.

Not long ago, the PM announced his plans to ease lockdown in phases. This meant that his message was misinterpreted and the numbers of those who tested positive spiked higher than before, leading us to a feared second wave. This incident comes at the wrong time, as by Cummings showing his lack of remorse and responsibility for the laws, he’s essentially handing out an invitation to the public to not take them seriously anymore. This incident will act as a catalyst in many ways, because people won’t feel encouraged or in high, fighting spirits anymore, instead, people will feel like there’s no point and if the government can’t stand by their own objectives, why shouldn’t the public see their families after many weeks?

Of course, we should all be sticking to the rules for the safety of ourselves and our families. The pandemic is still ongoing despite all the political upset, and it shouldn’t become backdrop because it’s the most vital situation occurring in the world right now. But what the nation needs now more than ever is for Boris Johnson to hold his advisor to account, defending him yesterday was a huge mistake for the country and offers no human conscience to his actions. Cummings needs to sincerely apologise, he cannot continue to have the casual attitude he’s had so far when he knows what he’s done and why it’s a huge deal. But it leaves us with many questions that for now, go unanswered. Did Boris Johnson know about his advisor’s extensive rulebreaking and was this at the back of his mind when he was ordering us all to stay home? And also, how many cabinet ministers knew he had broken the rules?

Cummings is set to make a statement at 4pm and take questions from Journalists.