Dominic Cummings broke three lockdown rules, says former health secretary Jeremy Hunt

‘These were clearly mistakes – both in terms of the guidance, which was crystal clear, and in terms of the signal it would potentially give out to others,’ says Surrey MP

Jeremy Hunt, the former health secretary, has added to the torrent of criticism of Dominic Cummings by saying he broke lockdown rules in three separate ways.

Mr Cummings was wrong in coming back into work when he had been with his wife who was ill; he should have stayed at home instead of driving to Durham; and should not have visited Barnard Castle, Mr Hunt said.

“These were clearly mistakes – both in terms of the guidance which was crystal clear, and in terms of the signal it would potentially give out to others as someone who was at the centre of government,” he wrote in a letter to a constituent, The Guardian reported.

During an unorthodox press conference on Monday, Mr Cummings explained that on 26 March he had been called away from work by his wife, who had fallen ill. “After a couple of hours, my wife felt a bit better. There were many critical things at work and she urged me to return in the afternoon and I did,” he said.

Critics say Mr Cummings was putting others in Downing Street at risk by returning there.

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The senior adviser also explained that after he then developed coronavirus symptoms last month, he drove to Durham to isolate his family when he and his wife feared they would be too unwell to care for their young son.

Mr Cummings admitted what appeared to be second clear breach of the rules when he took a 30-mile trip to the castle beauty spot, saying it was to determine whether he was fit to drive back to London since he feared his sight had been affected by the virus.

Boris Johnson’s adviser, who did not apologise for his trips, said he had no regrets about what he did, arguing it was reasonable.

Mr Hunt, who ran against Boris Johnson for the Conservative Party leadership, also told his constituent it was more important to hold the government to account on “whether we really are going to follow global best practice and introduce Korean/German track and trace so we kill off a second wave of the virus and get the economy back on its feet”, The Guardian reported.

But he said he would not add his voice to those calling for Mr Cummings to resign, adding that “as someone who has been at the centre of media storms with a young family, I know you do make mistakes in these situations”.

“I am also not convinced that politics gains much from the spectacle of scalp-hunting even though I recognise that accountability is central to our democracy and sometimes people do need to resign,” he added.

Mr Hunt was among Conservative backbenchers who earlier this month criticised the government’s position on the NHS surcharge for migrant health and care workers before Boris Johnson climbed down over the issue.

The chairman of the health select committee has also criticised the government by saying he was deeply concerned there were no plans to test every close contact of people who tested positive.