The Morlocks Will Be Right - Cummings and Goings

Hey, I've been quiet on here for a while, I know.  Well, the general level of global stress and bru-ha-ha has not been great for the ol' mental health, not exactly ideal writing conditions (and entering the brain-broiling heat of summer isn't exactly helping).  However, I decided that working constructively on here is perhaps one of the best forms of therapy I can have, so to that end, here's the start of a new little column, The Morlocks Will Be Right, which is me going full political.  If you don't get why it's called that, have a little think about what message a certain Mr. Wells was going for in his work.  This isn't going to be that regular, it's just more here to help clear my head whenever the world get too... interesting.  So with that in mind, let's talk about the Dominic Cummings situation.

The energy I'm going for.  Especially with my quarantine haircut.

I'm not going to go too deep into this one, as you probably know most of the key facts already; that senior government advisor Cummings made a trip to Durham with his wife and kid during the lockdown.  That during this time he made a trip to Barnard Castle, a trip of around half an hour each way, which is something really not covered by the lockdown rules.  That on this all being uncovered by the press, he tried to explain this whole thing in a Number 10 press conference, something which special advisors don't actually have the right to do.  During this, he repeatedly denied that what he did was against the rules, asking us to believe that the Durham Castle trip was to test his eyesight.  (Yes, an approximately 60 mile journey on the roads was to test to see if his vision was good enough for driving).  No-one bought this, including many MPs (Tory ones to boot!), the Durham Police, the Press (including those notoriously lefties Piers Morgan and the Daily Mail), nor the British People... and yet The Johnson is standing by Cummings, making very clear who's really in charge at Number 10.  (That last point was confirmed on Wednesday when Johnson said, during his utterly shambolic interview with the Liaison Committee that he was "forbidden" from committing to more deadlines... by whom we all wonder?).

Hey BBC News, you dropped this!

There's plenty more I could list off, but what I really want to make clear at this point is the issue of Cummings' overall attitude.  It was clear in the press conference that he was not at all sorry about any of this, and takes no responsibility.  Now that in itself is a very bad move; he and the government wouldn't be nearly in as much trouble as they are if they just admitted that they were in the wrong about this, sending the message to the British people at this time that breaking lockdown is definitely not what we should be doing right now.  However, it betrays more than that, it shows a key part of Cummings' character; his belief that rules are for other people.  (Incidentally, he and many right wing types like branding critics as "elites"; well if we're elites, what the hell does that make Dom's father-in-law?)  As his handling of Vote Leave before has shown us, Dom entirely considers himself above the law, that whatever the rules, even if he himself had a hand in them, they don't apply to him or his family.  And the thing about an attitude like that is, it is never a "one-off"; you think that on one occasion, you will consider that to be the case most, if not all, of the time.  The more one pushes the rules aside, the more of a habit it becomes.  So it wouldn't surprise anyone to find out that the Durham Jaunt, or the Barnard Castle trip (on his wife's birthday incidentally) aren't the only times Cummings has done this... and indeed, they weren't!

Just this morning, some fresh evidence has been published.  Now the place he was staying in Durham was one that at first he claimed was a guest wing on his father's farm, but subsequently it has turned out that it's actually a separate property owned by him.  And today the bombshell has dropped that that second home of Cummings doesn't have planning permission or council tax on it.  Ooohhh dear!  Very naughty!  That really is illegal, and makes things that much worse for him; now Durham PD have said that they weren't actually go ahead and prosecute him for the trips there since the fine was so small, but they did do the more damaging move of stating publicly that the trip was breaking the regulations.  This though, I can imagine they will have some serious words with Dom about; don't fuck with council tax, and especially don't get caught publicly doing it!

The Durham situation can be a major issue for Cummings because he has gotten as far as he has by being mostly a behind-the-scenes figure, and now he's been forced out into the light.  I will happily bet a tenner than by this time next week, we get another major story about him breaking the rules along these lines.  "Rules are for plebs" is a lifelong attitude, it will have informed a lot of his actions over the years, and it's all going to come out over the next few weeks, especially given Cumming's general attitude to the media.  And the longer he stays, the worse it looks for the PM standing by him, especially in light of Labour MP Rosie Duffield resigning as Whip in response to a far more minor lockdown breach.  On Wednesday, get your popcorn out, as Keir Starmer, given his last two times, is going to tear Boris a new one in PMQ's, given this much ammo against him!

Dominic Cummings, left, has not commented on this as yet.

The Government is really floundering in the face of the Coronavirus Crisis, their handling of it, and Cummings making it all that much harder for them.  It's clear that the lifting of some parts of the Lockdown is a distraction tactic, desperately trying to win them back some points after the disaster has reflected in the opinion polls.  So I ask all of you on here, don't fall for it.  Be strong.  Be a better person than Cummings, and realise that staying home, staying away from people, is for a vital good, to save lives.  And especially, don't do what Boris keeps saying and "Move On"; make it clear that we're not forgiving or forgetting any time soon, especially as they keep pretending that there's nothing to forgive.  Stay well all of you.