Melton MP responds to Dominic Cummings controversy

Alicia Kearns has posted a statement on her Twitter account after Mr Cummings gave a press conference yesterday (Monday) explaining why he decided to drive his family to County Durham after his wife developed Covid-19 symptoms.

Critics say he broke the spirit of the government’s own regulations, telling people to stay at home if they or someone in the household had symptoms, by going on the journey just four days after lockdown was imposed.

Mr Cummings says he does not regret doing what he did to safeguard his wife and his four-year-old son and his actions were again backed last night by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

In response, Mrs Kearns referred back to the daily press conference on March 24 when Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Jenny Harries, replying to a question about what parents should do if both are sick with Covid-19, stated ‘clearly if you have adults that are unable to look after a small child, that is an exceptional circumstance’.

Mrs Kearns said: “I told my constituents that if the facts showed that Cummings travelled to County Durham but stayed isolated in his property for the 14-day period I would be content.

“Over the weekend I pressed for more information to get the facts about what happened, and I shared the concerns of my constituents and their desire for an open and frank explanation with the Party.

“This weekend has been an unhelpful distraction from the genuine needs of constituents, who write to me daily asking for assistance with difficult personal circumstances.

“I’d not spoken publicly, as I focused on replying to all of the constituents who wrote to me on this issue.

“Cummings has now explained himself in a frank way.

“He recognises he might’ve done better, but acted within guidelines as per the March 24 presser.

“He believed he was protecting his family from virus and attacks on his home.

“I am confident no one else was put at risk by his actions.”

She also praised the actions of local residents in obeying the regulations imposed by the government on social distancing to help limit the spread of the virus.

“Many people in Rutland and Melton have sacrificed a great deal to stick to the letter of the lockdown guidelines, sometimes at great personal cost.

I am enormously grateful to each and every resident,” said Mrs Kearns.

“During the pandemic I’ve had to make decisions about what the guidelines did and did not permit constituents to do.

“At all times I acted in the best interests of my constituents and gave what I considered to be reasonable advice in each circumstance in consultation with ministers.”