mr cummings was photographed back in downing street. and on the 19th of april, newspaper reports say a witness spotted mr cummings in bluebell woods near durham. the prime minister defended the position of his chief of staff, dominic cummings, who this weekend it was revealed had travelled across the country while sick with the virus during lockdown. i want to begin by answering that question people have been asking in the last 48 hours, and that is, is this government asking you, the people, the public, to do one thing while senior people here in government do something else. have we been asking you to make sacrifices to obey social distancing, stay at home, while some people have been basically flouting those rules and endangering lives? and it's because i take this matter so and it's because i take this matter so seriously and because it is so serious that i can tell you today

that i've had extensive face—to—face conversations with dominic cummings andi conversations with dominic cummings and i have concluded that in travelling to find the right kind of childcare at the moment when both he and his wife were about to be incapacitated by coronavirus, and when he had no alternative, i think he followed the instincts of every father and every parent, and i do not mark him down for that. and though there have been many other allegations about what happened when he was in self isolation and thereafter, some of them palpably false, i believe that in every respect, he has acted responsibly and legally and with integrity. and with the overwhelming aim of stopping the spread of the virus and saving lives, and i stress this fundamental aim, because it is thanks to this country's collective

resolve in achieving that aim that we continue to make progress. let's talk to sara jones, the labour mp, whojoins us from south london. hello, and thanks forjoining us. i think you just heard the prime minister there saying that mr cummings acted as every father and a pa rent cummings acted as every father and a parent would and i do not mark him down for that. he was following his instincts. what do you think? well, i think millions of people have made sacrifices over this period and that press c0 nfe re nce was sacrifices over this period and that press conference was an insult to all the british people who have worked so hard to bring our infection rates down. the prime minister took a nakedly political decision to shift the rules so that his political adviser would be safe. the way that he spoke, where he didn't answer questions, we still

don't know a lot of the facts about what happened, when and how, but to suggest that the rules said it was fine for him to follow his instincts, to travel across the country because they might need childcare flies in the face of everything that the british people have been doing, the sacrifices people have been making, and it is really disappointing that the prime minister didn't answer any questions and didn't give the british people the respect that they deserve for the respect that they deserve for the sacrifices they made by saying, actually, we all should live by the same rules. and i think now we really have come to the point where the civil service need to step in here and the cabinet secretary, who we have written to, asked him to set up we have written to, asked him to set up an enquiry into this, he needs to set up that enquiry because we need those answers and we need to make sure that we understand what happened and that action is taken

appropriately. mr cummings, he had a four—year—old child, he had a wife who was displaying coronavirus symptoms. he claims that he was worried that he would go down with the virus himself and not be able to look after that child. can you begin to understand why he did what he did? we are all sympathetic to everybody who's had coronavirus, who has lost loved ones, we are sympathetic to the people who haven't been able to be there when their loved ones have died. the mothers who have not been able to 90, mothers who have not been able to go, and we think of ishmael, and i know people are talking about and today, he died 13 years old and his pa rents today, he died 13 years old and his parents could not go to the funeral because they had covid—19 symptoms. the rules were really clear. when the prime minister told us to stay at home and protect the nhs and stay live —— save lives, he said if you think you might kneel childcare, you

can travel 260 miles across the country and what is awful is that the entire government has been defending dominic cummings, saying, of course, he's a parent, many of us are parents but the rules were really clear and we were told not to follow our instincts. we were told if you had coronavirus to not leave your home for any reason and that was the guidance. it was really clear. it's just not fair to everybody who's made such a sacrifice to have such an insulting response by the prime minister not answering questions from journalists, not engaging in the issues, brushing it off. it'sjust not acceptable and we need the cabinet secretary to step in and set up cabinet secretary to step in and set up an enquiry. you say the rules we re up an enquiry. you say the rules were clear. grant shapps this morning said that the rule suggested that if you are living with children, follow this advice to the best of your ability. however we are aware that all of these measures may not be possible. do not leave your

home for any reason. that was the advice. if you have symptoms, do not leave your home for any reason. all the fantastic volunteers we've had in our communities, here in croydon there are loads of people who'd been bringing food to people who are having to isolate because they've got symptoms. i know of a single mother who was really sick and had to stay at home with her son, who was only ten, and we had to get food delivered to them. people have made these great sacrifices and had a really difficult time and we have the highest death rate in europe. it is not acceptable to say after the event, oh, actually, the rules meant something which we all know they didn't. we all know it was clear that you stay in your home if you had the symptoms, and for good reason. and this is what is so distressing. we all collectively have brought those infection rates down, we have brought down the

number of people who got covid—19 and who have died, and that is because people have done the right thing. can ijust ask because people have done the right thing. can i just ask you because people have done the right thing. can ijust ask you on schools, the prime minister has made it clear that there will be a phased reopening of schools, primary schools, in a way that is manageable as possible? early years reception, year one and six, and this will be from the universe. a lot of controversy from the universe. a lot of c0 ntrove rsy over from the universe. a lot of controversy over this, obviously full stop the prime instead is going ahead with this. what is your view? obviously schools are open already, most of them with some children, including mine. my husband works in a hospital. i've done a survey of pa rents a hospital. i've done a survey of parents locally and over 50% of them say they are not comfortable sending their children back and i think we really need a collective show of leadership from the government to bring in the parent bodies, the unions, the schools and the local authorities to try and find a solution here. it is a model at the moment on the prime minister

confused it more by saying some schools will go back on the 1st of june and some won't. we know people are worried, that there are concerns, and the way to fix that is to bring everyone together and then also to make sure we have the test, track and trace system in place by the 1st ofjune. track and trace system in place by the 1st of june. the track and trace system in place by the 1st ofjune. the four elements of it, including the app that we need to hear about, and how that will work, so parents can have confidence and teachers can have confidence and teachers can have confidence and teachers can have confidence and we can all work together to get children back to school, which is what we all want to see. we will leave it there. the labour shadow policing minister, thank you forjoining us. some breaking news or some reaction from the snp at westminster. their leader in response to the coronavirus briefing that borisjohnson gave where he defended his special adviser dominic cummings, mr blackford says borisjohnson‘s

breathtaking arrogance sends out the message that there is one rule for the tory government and another for the tory government and another for the rest of us. he is trying to take the rest of us. he is trying to take the public. but i have no doubt that people will see right through it. families across all parts of the country have struggled through the lockdown without the ability to call on friends and family for childcare ina on friends and family for childcare in a desperate attempt to save his adviser, borisjohnson in a desperate attempt to save his adviser, boris johnson has in a desperate attempt to save his adviser, borisjohnson has thrown public health advice on the solidarity and sacrifice of millions to the wind. that is the response from the snp at westminster, their leader, ian blackford. we heard from him ahead of the news conference from downing street and hejoins us now on bbc news. hello to you and thanks for being with us. we know that boris johnson to you and thanks for being with us. we know that borisjohnson is sticking by his senior adviser. your thoughts on his comments concerning mrcummings? thoughts on his comments concerning mr cummings? i'm not entirely surprised that he has stood by mr

cummings, because boris johnson stands by his friends. i am disappointed, in this instance, because i think it is for the country and the administration a bad decision. do you believe that a line has been drawn under the matter now? ifear has been drawn under the matter now? i fear not. people has been drawn under the matter now? ifear not. people have has been drawn under the matter now? i fear not. people have said to me, well, what are you going to do now question about the answer is, in short order, i will probably go away and shut up. but me shutting up will not be the end of the story because there is probably more to emerge. and so many people have expressed their concern about the manner in which mrcummings their concern about the manner in which mr cummings not only behave, admittedly in the interest of his son which is understandable, but the way he flouted his own rules. there are thousands of people all over the country who have had childcare problems, and i think a lot of people are going to find it very ha rd to people are going to find it very hard to believe that given the size of the city of london and the number

of the city of london and the number of people there it was impossible for of people there it was impossible foer