The media attention surrounding Dominic Cummings has subsided so perhaps it’s a good time to look at one way Downing Street may have managed the response to the crisis. I looked at the fifteen MPs who sent out statements criticising Mr. Cummings – but who stopped short of actually calling on him to go  – and I noticed a number of phrases that seemed to keep cropping up:

One rule for them

Robert Largan, the MP for High Peak said in a Facebook statement that “We can’t have a position where it is one rule for the public and another for politicians.”.

Bury South’s MP Christian Wakeford, wrote in a Facebook post: “We cannot give the impression there is one rule for some and another for the rest.”

North Norfolk MP Duncan Baker tweeted: “We cannot give the impression that there is one rule for some and another for the rest”

And Lichfield’s Michael Fabricant was reported as telling constituents: “There cannot be one rule for some and not for others”

Need to know the facts

Robert Largan also included the line: “I don’t have all the facts and I don’t want to rush to judgement based on incomplete information”

Former Chancellor Sajid Javid said he thought it best to reserve judgement on Mr Cummings’ actions until now when “we were in possession of all the facts”

Christian Wakeford: “I have taken time to listen to a great many comments from constituents, and to assess the facts which have emerged since the story broke on Friday”

Duncan Baker: “I have taken time to listen to a great many comments from constituents, and to assess the facts which have emerged since the story broke on Friday”

New Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison: “I won’t be commenting further until we have all the facts”

Congleton MP Fiona Bruce: “I have not commented on Dominic Cummings situation until now as I thought it fair to await the full facts and reflect”

East Devon MP Simon Jupp: “I wanted to know the facts before responding to you”

I’ve told the government

Robert Largan said he had “made the Government aware of the strength of feeling of local people.”

Sajid Javid said he understood the strength of feeling about Mr Cummings’ behaviour and had passed the views of the people of Bromsgrove onto Downing Street.

Simon Jupp: “I have raised questions which I felt needed answering and made the strength of feeling in East Devon clear to the party leadership.”

Christian Wakeford: “I have expressed my thoughts and concerns on this issue known to senior figures in the government. That is the correct way to voice my views”

Duncan Baker: “I have – through the appropriate channels – made my thoughts on the issue known to senior figures in the government. That is the correct way to voice my concerns”

We’ve all made sacrifices

Sajid Javid is also reported as writing: “As a country we have sacrificed so much in order to protect those we care about. Many of my constituents have gone months without visiting friends and family, given up their livelihoods and lost loved ones in the most painful way imaginable – from a distance.”

The MP for Totnes, Anthony Mangnall: “All of us have made extraordinary sacrifices over the last two months, going without seeing our family, our friends and our loved ones.”

Simon Jupp: “We are all making significant sacrifices and coping with situations we couldn’t imagine just a few months ago. Many of us, including myself, have lost people in our lives and haven’t been able to see family and friends”

Rchard Holden, Paul Howell and  Dehenna Davison (joint letter):

“Many people across our constituencies have made, and continue to make, incredible sacrifices.  People are coping with situations that were unimaginable not long ago. Some of our constituents have lost their lives and many have lost people close to them, before their time.”

Penny Mordaunt Portsmouth North MP and Paymaster General: “In all of this though is also our obligations to others too. It is because of that shared responsibility and the public making those sacrifices that we have reduced the infection rate”

 

Perhaps it really is one rule for them…