Here is Emily Maitlis’s introduction to Newsnight on Tuesday 26 May, for which the BBC felt the need to apologise. Now Durham Constabulary has confirmed that Cummings broke the rules to the degree that, had he been apprehended, he would’ve been turned back. So what part of what she said is untrue? Surely if she is punished and allowed to become the story this must add even further to the damage this government is inflicting on its credibility?
‘Dominic Cummings broke the rules. The country can see that, and it’s shocked the government cannot. The longer ministers and the Prime Minister tell us he worked within them, the more angry the response to this scandal is likely to be. He was the man, remember, who always “got“ the public mood, who tagged the lazy label of “elite” on those who disagreed. He should understand that public mood now, one of fury, contempt, and anguish. He made those who struggled to keep to the rules feel like fools, and has alowed many more to assume that they can now flout them. The prime minister knows all this, but despite the resignation of one minister, growing unease from his back benches, a dramatic early warning from the polls, and a deep national disquiet, Boris Johnson has chosen to ignore it.’
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