Conservative MPs to challenge Boris Johnson face to face over his refusal to sack Dominic Cummings

‘Moral authority’ to enforce restrictions to beat coronavirus draining away, prime minister told – as public turns against him over chief aide

Conservative MPs will challenge Boris Johnson face to face over his refusal to sack Dominic Cummings, as public anger about the No 10 adviser’s apparent lockdown breaches threaten to engulf the government.

More than 30 Tories – including prominent former ministers – swelled the revolt against the chief aide, some warning his failure to quit undermined support for continuing restrictions on people’s freedoms.

One said the “moral authority” to demand the public’s consent for the fight against coronavirus was being lost, while a second highlighted the impression given of “one rule for them and another for senior government advisers”.

And pressure on Mr Cummings grew when former health secretary Jeremy Hunt said the Downing Street aide was guilty of a clear breach of the lockdown rules on three occasions. But the Tory MP stopped short of demanding the adviser’s resignation.

Crucially, Mr Johnson will experience the anger in person when he appears before a Commons committee, with several of the Tory questioners among those attacking his backing for Mr Cummings.

One, former Welsh secretary Stephen Crabb, told The Independent that the aide should have stepped down pending an inquiry by the cabinet secretary, Sir Mark Sedwill.

“I thought Dominic Cummings was wrong to arrogantly brush away the allegations when they first appeared. He just made matters worse,” Mr Crabb said.

“People have got every right to ask what on earth he was doing in Durham and Barnard Castle during lockdown.”

Mr Crabb will be joined by Simon Hoare and Caroline Nokes, two Tories who have called openly for Mr Cummings to be dismissed, at the meeting of the powerful Liaison Committee on Wednesday.

The controversy has triggered a calamitous plunge in Mr Johnson’s popularity in just a few days, according to data from polling group Savanta ComRes.

Most of the public now disapproves of the government and the prime minister’s personal ratings also turned negative – dropping from +19 per cent to -1 per cent since Friday.

No 10 continued to stand by the former Vote Leave chief, attempting to shut down further questions about the inconsistencies in the account given at his dramatic press conference.

Earlier, Douglas Ross, a junior Scottish minister, quit in protest, saying: “I have constituents who didn’t get to say goodbye to loved ones; families who could not mourn together; people who didn’t visit sick relatives because they followed the guidance of the government.

“I cannot in good faith tell them they were all wrong and one senior adviser to the government was right.”

Stephen Hammond is among former ministers calling for Mr Cummings to go. He said: “Public adherence to the rules is achieved by consent in this country and that is made much harder if people feel it is one rule for them and another for senior government advisers.”

And another, Harriett Baldwin, said: “The government relies on moral authority to receive the consent of the people to such draconian reductions in their freedoms.

“Therefore, for the sake of future adherence to public health guidelines, I believe he should resign.”

And Mark Harper, a former chief whip, said Mr Cummings “should have offered to resign, and the prime minister should have accepted his resignation”.

Amid the anger, health secretary Matt Hancock even agreed to pass on a request from a vicar to review all penalty fines imposed on families travelling – like Mr Cummings – for childcare reasons during lockdown.

Downing Street was forced to hose down suggestions that he had made up policy on the hoof, insisting no review had been conceded.

The gathering storm entirely overshadowed what Mr Hancock called the good news of the lowest number of recorded Covid-19 deaths for 6 weeks, including none at all in Northern Ireland.

Durham Police were reported to have begun their investigation into Mr Cummings’s actions, interviewing a witness and gaining access to software to track the movement of a vehicle he used.

Peter Fahy, a former Greater Manchester Police chief constable, said officers were “frustrated” by the fiasco, which had left efforts to police the rules “very confused”.

But Mr Hancock, at the daily briefing, continued to insist that Mr Cummings’s “exceptional circumstances” – his need for childcare – made his trip to Durham legitimate.

“My judgment is the same as the prime minister’s judgement,” he said, insisting the government would move on to “deal with other issues” such as treatment for Covid-19.