28 May 2020
This issue has touched a nerve in the nation and here in Mid Norfolk. In the last forty-eight hours I have had c 1000 emails from people who do not usually email their MP, expressing their anger at how Mr Cummings has let down the national effort to defeat the pandemic. 
 
It has become clear from my inbox that the scale and depth of the anger felt by constituents is like nothing I have seen in ten years. Many across Mid Norfolk are angry that their sacrifices for the greater good seem not to have been matched by such a senior figure in Government. Many have also asked how or why they can be expected to comply with instructions the PM's own senior adviser can’t stick to. 
 
This situation clearly can't be allowed to go on. In normal times public anger with a Ministerial adviser would not justify this level of response. But these are not normal times. Tens of thousands of people have died. Millions more have made massive sacrifices. Here in Norfolk we still face a serious epidemic in our care homes and many frontline public servants are still putting themselves at risk. Many constituents face redundancy and bankruptcy. Consent to respect and abide by the Government’s public health advice is literally a matter of life and death. 
 
As a controversial political campaigner, Mr Cummings attracts a lot of public and media interest. I think it's important to acknowledge that Mr Cummings has real strengths as a campaigner, reformer and thinker on the core challenge of National Renewal at the heart of the Government's agenda. I was determined to give him a fair hearing and, in the face of a coherent account, the benefit of the doubt. 
 
However, as the full story unfolded earlier this week and we heard about the multiple breaches of guidance - the day trip to Barnard Castle and the family play in the woods on a weekend when the whole nation was being instructed to stay at home - I'm afraid my credibility and patience was stretched. Before the statement, I called for him to show humility, respect for the sacrifices of millions of people and contrition for the impression that, as a holder of privileged office, he did not comply with the very clear public message he was asking others to abide by.  Regrettably, that wasn't forthcoming. 
 
It’s clear to me that Mr Cummings' actions have seriously undermined the authority of the Government, the Prime Minister and the public health message. To continue the battle against Covid-19 and oversee the next phase which will require huge levels of compliance with new Government guidance, we need to urgently restore public trust.  
 
We owe it - to the public officials, NHS and Care workers and all those who have made such massive sacrifices - to show that the people leading the government have nothing but respect for their sacrifice, and are prepared to abide by the same rules themselves. 
 
I’m afraid it is now clear that national confidence in, and consent to abide by, our government public health messaging has been profoundly damaged. By his continuing in office, Mr Cummings is now regrettably undermining the Government, Party and Prime Minister he is employed to serve. 
 
For all these reasons, I believe Mr Cummings must now apologise and resign his post, so that we can rebuild public trust and consent, and focus on the vital task of defeating this virus and navigating our economy and society through a phased end of lockdown as effectively as possible. 
 
George Freeman MP