Unless you have been hiding under a rock (would that constitute a lockdown breach?) you will be well furnished with the details of the saga surrounding the Prime Minister's top aide and his trips to Durham and Barnard Castle.

Today Durham Police have concluded that Dominic Cummings may well have committed a breach of the very lockdown rules that he helped to devise, when he took his wife and child on a trip to the famous castle.

In his remarkable press conference earlier this week, Mr Cummings went a few steps above a "dog ate my homework" excuse by claiming the Barnard Castle excursion was done to test his eyesight after he had been feeling unwell.

It certainly brings a whole new meaning to the idea of a "sightseeing trip".

Crummy jokes aside, the fact that Mr Cummings continues to enjoy the complete support of the Prime Minister has very serious implications for the nation's battle against coronavirus.

How can we expect people to abide by the rules that are aimed at keeping us all safe if one of the most senior figures involved in drawing them up can break them and face no punishment whatsoever?

Today a local issue has brought Boris Johnson's lack of action even more prominently into view.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have reported two exclusive stories about senior elected figures at Liverpool Council who have themselves breached the lockdown rules.

Firstly I revealed that Labour's cabinet member for children's services, Cllr Barry Kushner and his wife, Cllr Joann Kushner hosted a gathering on land next to their house over the early May Bank Holiday weekend, when the strictest lockdown rules were still in force.

Pictures showed a large number of family members relaxing with the Kushners - although the couple claimed they had all arrived without warning and at the same time (and happened to have chairs with them).

Cllr Barry Kushner (second from far right) and Cllr Joann Kushner (behind slide) have been criticised for flouting lockdown rules



Yesterday I published a similar story about Labour's Deputy Mayor Cllr Lynnie Hinnigan, with images showing a gathering of people in her garden during the same weekend as she celebrated her 50th birthday.

Cllr Hinnigan explained that as her original party had been cancelled, her daughter had invited people round and insisted that she remained in the house as they dropped off gifts before leaving.


Unfortunately the images show 12 people gathered in her garden with chairs laid out - however briefly they were there, it was clearly still a breach of the rules.

Around the same time that news was breaking of Durham Police's investigation into Dominic Cummings today (and the complete lack of action from his boss), we received news of decisive action from the Liverpool Labour group.

Liverpool's Deputy Mayor Cllr Lynnie Hinnigan has apologised after footage appeared of a birthday gathering at her home during lockdown


Chief Whip Cllr Ruth Bennett and Mayor Joe Anderson had agreed that after an investigation found Cllr Kushner had broken the rules, he should be suspended from his position on the council for two months.

He will not pick up his Special Responsibility Allowance during that time.

In the same statement the group confirmed that an investigation will be carried out into Cllr Hinnigan's actions - and that she has stood down from her senior position in the cabinet while that is carried out.

I think this was the right course of action from the leaders of the city and the local Labour group.

A few people have had a pop at me on Twitter to say that the situation with Mr Cummings is more serious because of his role in setting the rules and some of the specific circumstances, including the fact he believed he had coronavirus when he decided to drive the length of the country - and back.


I'm inclined to agree and you won't find a bigger critic of the hypocrisy of the PM's top man than me.

But that doesn't mean those in local positions of power shouldn't also face consequences for breaking the rules that we have all been told to stick to.

This is about doing what is right and people in powerful positions being accountable for their actions.

Today the Liverpool Labour group showed what accountability means, while Boris Johnson once again showed it is not a word that means very much to him.