COVID-19: ‘If Dominic Cummings Can Break The Rules, We Can Too!’, Says UK Residents Who Troupes Out To Parks, Beaches To Relax

Sun-worshippers descended on parks and beaches today amid an expected 79F heatwave as they declared, ‘If Dominic Cummings can break the rules, we can too’ after Boris Johnson’s Svengali got away with a 260-mile trip during lockdown.

The PM last night defended his senior aide over the journey from London to his parents’ home in Durham while he and his wife were self-isolating with coronavirus
symptoms, prompting a furious reaction from Britons who have been making huge sacrifices to abide by the restrictions.

With parts of the country set to bask in temperatures hotter than Athens, Nice and Barcelona today, critics said that Mr Johnson’s decision to stand behind Mr Cummings risked sending out the dangerous signal that ‘lockdown is finished’ – potentially leading to a second wave of infections.

Russell Martin tweeted: ‘So are you telling us that the lockdown is now officially over and we can do whatever we like whenever we like? Because if Dominic Cummings can break the rules with impunity, the rest of us can too.’

Meanwhile, surfers in Woolacombe, Dorset, claimed they had every right to defy appeals to stay at home from locals at tourist spots, with Jen, 26, from Warwick, telling MailOnline: ‘If Dominic Cummings can travel from London to Durham during the height of lockdown, then really no one can say anything.’

Her friend, Liching, 26, from London, added: ‘I was a little apprehensive of what the locals would think and worried we might upset them but I’ve not left my house, except for daily walks, since lockdown started. I feel that if Dominic Cummings thought it was acceptable to drive that distance in lockdown, no one can get upset at us for driving now when the government have also said that it’s ok.’

Some of the Government’s scientific advisers also weighed into the debate, with Professor Stephen Reicher saying the PM had ‘trashed’ all the advice he’d been given, while a former police chief argued that his failure to condemn Cummings meant enforcing lockdown is now ‘dead in the water’.

This morning, crowds formed outside the Serpentine in London’s Hyde Park, as beaches in Sussex, Essex and Dorset quickly filled up with visitors looking to enjoy the dry and sunny conditions forecast to last the whole of Bank Holiday Monday.

People in England are now allowed to travel for day trips but must stay at least six feet away from people who are not from their household, something that could be impossible in crowded areas.
-Daily Mail, UK