CUMMINGS AND GOINGS

Click on any image for a larger version

Dominic Cummings, who appears to effectively be the British Prime Minister at the moment, is in a heap of trouble for skiting around the English countryside during lockdown.

He travelled from London to Durham at least once with his wife and child at a time when he was infected. His ostensible reason for doing so was to be near his parents on their estate so that, if both he and his wife were incapacitated, his parents could look after the child. In the event it appears this was not necessary.

The original claim was that he was isolating on the parents' property. However he appears to have been seen [in town and] at Barnard Castle some 25-30 miles away. There is a suggestion that he has business contacts in Durham and in Barnard.

He has denied that Police contacted him, or his family, about breaking lockout, but Durham Police confirmed that there was contact with his father about his trip and presence in Durham.

I've been to Durham once and found the Police there quite civilised, even at two in the morning.

This is Durham Castle, a painting by constable, the irony of which will become apparent.

In the course of a visit to the town in the mid 1970s, a policeman in a Panda car caught me shinning down the Castle drainpipe at two in the morning.

While I was being questioned a motley crew of peripheral Celts slid down the drainpipe, one after the other. No sooner had he taken one name than another strange one was elicited. I expect that must have produced a most unusual set of entries in his notebook.

Anyway we Bojo'd our way out of that one and were not arrested despite the strong odour of Newcastle Brown Ale emanating.

Perhaps it was actually this that saved us. He may have come to the conclusion that anyone, even a Celt from the fringe, who enjoys the local brew can't be all that bad. Mind you, I did pay a price the following morning with a hell of a hangover which lasted all the way back to Dublin on the Fokker Friendship.

Back to Dominic and his sock puppet Bojo.

BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg was straight out of the traps defending, or making excuses for, the boul Dominic, just as she had gone easy on Bojo in the past.

The BBC has gone to pot, or maybe it was always like that but we didn't notice.

It has been said of Bojo that he didn't really want to be Prime Minister, as in doing the job, but that he wanted to have been Prime Minister, as in basking in the glory.

I wrote this thing way back in the early Brexit days and it certainly looks likes coming true not only in relation to Brexit but also the Corona Virus crisis.

On a lighter note, these pictures are going round the internet.

The Church Militant and social distancing.

And, sure if you're into that stuff, you might as well go the whole hog.