Gary Neville mocks Dominic Cummings over ‘uncomfortable’ lockdown statement

Prime minister Boris Johnson’s special advisor has been accused of breaking the UK’s coronavirus lockdown guidelines with a trip from London to Durham while he was symptomatic with the virus

Former England and Manchester United defender Gary Neville has mocked Dominic Cummings for his performance during a press conference.

Prime minister Boris Johnson’s special advisor has been accused of breaking the UK’s coronavirus lockdown guidelines with a trip from London to Durham while he was symptomatic with the virus.

Cummings called a press conference at Downing Street on Monday afternoon to attempt to explain his actions and was subsequently subjected to a grilling from the media.

Neville, who during his infamous short spell as manager of Valencia lost 7-0 at Barcelona, took to social media to query Cummings’ answers.

He tweeted: “The most uncomfortable I’ve seen an Englishman in a press conference since a 7-0 defeat in Barcelona.”

The defence of his actions comes amid furious calls for him to resign or be sacked by Johnson for travelling to County Durham in March to self-isolate with his family after his wife developed coronavirus symptoms.

Cummings denied further reports which suggested he took a second trip to the North East on 14 April.

He conceded that “reasonable people may well disagree about how I thought about what to do in the circumstances”, but said “I don’t regret what I did.”

He added: “I think what I did was actually reasonable in these circumstances. The rules made clear that if you are dealing with small children that can be exceptional circumstances.

“And I think that the situation that I was in was exceptional circumstances and the way that I dealt with it was the least risk to everybody concerned if my wife and I had both been unable to look after our four-year-old.”