Did Dominic Cummings go to Barnard Castle? And all the other unanswered questions from Boris Johnson’s briefing

Prime minister’s attempt to defend controversial aide leaves more questions than answers

Boris Johnson has offered full support to his embattled senior adviser Dominic Cummings but many questions still remain about the aide’s actions, following allegations that he broke lockdown rules twice.

It has already become a cliche to suggest that Downing Street’s explanations for Mr Cummings’ behaviour have raised more questions than answers, but on Sunday the prime minister offered barely any answers at all.

Mr Johnson insisted his adviser acted “responsibly and legally and with integrity” when he drove his family 260 miles at the height of the UK’s coronavirus lockdown.

However, he failed to answer key questions on what Mr Cummings had done and what the adviser’s actions meant for the government’s public health guidance.

Below are the questions Mr Johnson failed to answer at Sunday’s press briefing.

Q: Did Mr Cummings make a trip to Barnard Castle in April when he was isolating or at least based in Durham?

Mr Cummings was reported to have made a trip to Barnard Castle, about 30 miles from the Cummings’ family property in Durham, on 12 April and Mr Johnson was asked specifically about this allegation on Sunday.

The prime minister replied: “I think when you look at the guidance, when you look at the particular childcare needs that Mr Cummings faced at the time, it was reasonable of him to self-isolate as he did for 14 days or more with his family where he did. I think that was sensible and defensible and I understand it.”

He added: “As for all the other allegations, I just repeat what I have said earlier on: I have looked at them carefully and I am content that at all times throughout his period in isolation, actually on both sides of that period, he behaved responsibly and correctly and with a view to defeating the virus and stopping the spread.”

Mr Johnson failed to directly address the reports about Mr Cummings’ alleged trip to Barnard Castle and failed to explicitly deny the trip happened.

Q: If somebody is in the same position as Mr Cummings and has the same childcare concerns, are they at liberty to do precisely what he did?

The prime minister sought to justify Mr Cummings’ actions by arguing they were “totally understandable” but stopped short of saying other people were allowed to do what he did.

“Looking at the very severe childcare difficulties that presented themselves to Dominic Cummings and his family, I think that what they did was totally understandable, there's actually guidance about that particular difficulty, about what you need to do about the pressures that families face when they have childcare needs,” Mr Johnson said.

His answer did not clarify whether a different family would have been allowed to follow Mr Cummings’ course of action.

Q: Why did Mr Cummings need to go to Durham when he has now said his family did not care for his son?

Mr Johnson defended his adviser by arguing the family travelled to Durham in search of childcare, but it is unclear why exactly Mr Cummings had to travel 260 miles for help.

Downing Street has also said Mr Cummings and his wife did not need childcare in the end and instead relied on the family to deliver food to their door.

In response to a question on this issue, Mr Johnson said: “The guidance makes it very clear that where you have particular childcare needs that has got to be taken into account.”

He added: "I have seen a lot of stuff in the last few days about this episode of self-isolation by Mr Cummings that does not seem to correspond remotely with reality.

"As far as I can see he stuck to the rules and he acted legally and responsibly with the sole objective of avoiding such contact as would spread the virus."

It is still unclear why Mr Cummings could not have got help with childcare or food deliveries in London if he needed them.

Q: If the guidance supposedly said it was permissible to travel for childcare purposes, why were so few people aware of this?

Mr Johnson also failed to address why it was not clear to many people that you could travel long distances for childcare, as Mr Cummings did, if this was supposedly allowed.

On 23 March, the prime minister was unequivocal when he said: “You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home.”

His statement announcing the lockdown also made no references to supposed exemptions for childcare needs.

When asked about this issue on Sunday, Mr Johnson replied: “Mr Cummings did isolate for 14 days or more and the circumstances of his self-isolation were determined by the difficult childcare position that he found himself in and I understand that and I think that many other people do.”

However, as he ended the press conference, the prime minister noted: “I think we will be back again tomorrow.”

These questions do not represent a complete list of the many unexplained details about Mr Cummings' actions or the government’s response to them, and many parts of the story remain unclear.

Some of the other questions we still do not have answers to include:

• When was Mr Johnson made aware of the trip and did he authorise it?
• Why did Downing Street keep quiet about the trip to Durham for weeks?
• Was it right for Mr Cummings to follow his “instincts” when the rest of the country was following clearly defined rules?

These are questions Downing Street will likely be asked to answer over the coming days.

Additional reporting by Press Association