problem about whether or not we will continue that. premier league clubs will vote on proposals for a return to contact training on wednesday.the government's given permission for elite players from all sports to have some contact in training, which sees the return of things like tackling. so far players have been restricted to small groups and have had to keep well apart. good afternoon, and there was another charity golf and welcome to viewers on bbc one. event in the states overnight. boris johnson's chief adviser tiger woods and phil mickelson dominic cummings will be making paired up with nfl stars peyton manning and tom brady. a public statement in half an hour's and being shownjust time — and taking questions how its done too. this is bradyjust casually making afterwards — amid growing calls an eagle on a parfive. for his resignation over claims now he might be one of the most talented he broke the government's sportspeople on the planet — own lockdown guidelines. but could be in need the prime minister has been a new pair of trousers after a malfunction shall we say? holding a cabinet meeting — that's all the sport for now. 00:00:51,248 --> 2147483051:37:10,339 i'll have more for 2147483051:37:10,339 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 you in the next hour. that was scheduled to look at easing the coronavirus lockdown restrictions. but mrjohnson now faces a revolt from some of his own mps and criticism from across

the political spectrum after his decision to back his most trusted aide. and durham police have been asked to look into whether mr cummings broke the law by the county's acting police and crime commissioner, who says there's a lot of information that needs to be examined. let's go straight to our chief political correspondent vicki young. we don't know what mr cummings is going to say but we have had a tweet from a conservative mp, andrew bridge in, saying a lot of people havejudged dominic bridge in, saying a lot of people have judged dominic cummings without hearing his side of the story. that will change this afternoon and many people, he says, will be surprised. yesterday it was the prime minister who decided to hold that press conference unexpectedly. he came out to stand by his adviser, but many conservative mps watching that were dismayed. their fear was that boris johnson's ownjudgment dismayed. their fear was that boris johnson's own judgment was being questioned. today it will be dominic

cummings answering the questions in the garden at number ten downing st and taking questions from journalists. it's notjust the u na nswered journalists. it's notjust the unanswered questions about where he went, when he went, and whether he feels he undermined those rules. i think they will be looking closely at the tone he adopts because at the beginning of this his friend said he didn't really care about this story and he didn't think other people cared about it. that has turned out to be very wrong. as my colleague jessica parker reports, there have been growing calls today for dominic cummings to resign. the questions keep coming. did you go to barnard castle, mrcummings? and cannot easily be waved away. boris johnson strongly backed his chief aide last night, saying dominic cummings had acted legally and with integrity. the prime minister appearing to consider the matter closed. very serious allegations have been levelled at dominic cummings and his family in terms of his breaking of the rules and therefore breaking the law. dominic cummings has set out absolutely clearly, and absolutely categorically

that he did not break the rules and he didn't break the law. this is... the prime minister is right to be asking those questions, right to be asking for those assurances. amid lockdown, mr cummings travelled in late march from london to county durham with his wife, who had covid symptoms and their young son, to self—isolate on the family farm in case they needed help with childcare. then, was there later a day out, 30 miles down the road at barnard castle? durham's acting police and crime commissioner has requested the facts be investigated. coming out last night to back his adviser... i think you follow the instincts of every father and every parent i think he followed the instincts of every father and every parent and i do not mark him down for that. but a number of conservative mps now want an investigation, others for dominic cummings to go. my inbox is absolutely

bloated with white anger, with real fury from constituents from across the political spectrum, from across the different professions and jobs in north dorset. absolutely furious. waiting for developments, it's now understood mr cummings will make a public statement later, take questions. but opposition parties have been calling on the prime minister to sack him. borisjohnson is putting his political interests ahead of the public interest. and when trust in a public health message and public health advice is as important as it is right now, the consequences of that could be very serious. michael carter from surrey, staying home for health reasons, didn't get to see his mother before she died and says he feels insulted. it looks as if it is the old boys' club looking after each other now. that is what it feels like. and to make rules for the british public to follow and then to break them, orto deceive people, which is moreso what he has done, is unacceptable.

at a virtual meeting today, the cabinet is looking at the next steps out of lockdown. as decisions are made behind this door, public trust a crucial commodity. jessica parker, bbc news. many conservative mps fell yesterday's press conference made things worse. we will know in 20 minutes or so whether dominic cummings could answer the questions put to him and many tory mps. looking for a sense of humility really, and a recognition that what he did was not the right thing to do, even if he didn't break the law. it really did partly undermine the government's message. it will be interesting to hear what he says to those questions because there was a feeling that yesterday the prime minister was asked quite a lot of specific questions about what mr cummings had done, and didn't really a nswer cummings had done, and didn't really answer all of them. yes, there are specific questions about whether for example he and his family stopped on their journey example he and his family stopped on theirjourney on the way up, did

they go near other people, did they go intoa they go near other people, did they go into a motorway service station? did he go anywhere else? suggestions he travelled 30 miles potentially on a day trip. 0ther he travelled 30 miles potentially on a day trip. other reports, although denied by downing street, that he was seen a week later back in the area. all those kind of questions, but i think too it is also about really his demeanour and how he approaches this because that has caused quite a lot of the anger, i think, among conservative mps, that initially friends of dominic cummings got in touch with journalists to say he doesn't care about this, he doesn't matter what journalists think. that has been his sta nce journalists think. that has been his stance since he took this role, he has never tried to befriend cabinet ministers or make himself popular with conservative mps. quite the opposite, he is disdainful of that, and the way westminster does operate. but now he's forced to go in front of the cameras and answer what could be personal questions,

a nswer what could be personal questions, answer for himself, and what could be personal questions, answerfor himself, and it is what could be personal questions, answer for himself, and it is very striking the lengths the government and the prime minister is going to to save his adviser, and that is causing raised eyebrows in itself. lots of cabinet ministers think they would not have had this kind of treatment themselves. it is pretty unprecedented, isn't it, for an adviser to have his own news conference in downing street? yes, no one can really imagine a previous occasion when this happened. 0f course there have been previous advisers who have made the headlines but not in this way. the rose garden in downing street, much better known for being where john in downing street, much better known for being wherejohn major once stood up to his critics, where of course the coalition was launched between nick clegg for the liberal democrats and david cameron, but having an adviser sitting there answering questions is very unusual. that is the point, dominic cummings does not do things in the normal way. he says things which he knows will get attention, but up till now he hasn't cared about that. this is

different because it's about his family, his wife and son so it is a very different situation for him to be in. he can answer those critics by speaking for himself. vicki vicki young, many thanks. let's just recap the events that have brought us to this point. this is what we know so far about mr cummings' movements. the uk was placed into lockdown with strict limitation on travel on march the 23rd. the last time mr cummings was seen before developing covid symptoms was on the 27th of march. 0n the 31st of march, durham police were made aware of reports that an individual travelled from london to durham. 0n the following day, the police spoke to his father on his father's request. dominic cummings returned to work in london on april 14th. but there have been reports that, in the meantime, he also travelled 30 miles for a day out with his wife at barnard castle. durham constabulary says that it can confirm it has received further

information and complaints from members of the public, which it is reviewing and examining. it comes after durham's acting police, crime and victims' commissioner wrote to the force's chief constable, calling on officers to establish whether mr cummings broke the law. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford is here. so what happens next in terms of any kind of police investigation into this? it was interesting the wording durham constabulary have used, saying they are reviewing and examining the information they have received from members of the public. it doesn't quite use the word investigating, but steve white, the acting police and crime commissioner for durham has been asked to establish what the truth was, and whether the health protection regulations, which is the law in this case, had been breached. the problem with the health protection regulations is they say you shouldn't go out of your house without a reasonable excuse, and i

think all of the debate about this is whether it was a reasonable excuse for dominic cummings, obviously a key adviser for the prime minister, to travel the length of the country with his sick wife and young child. was there some good excuse for doing that, which is then either going to allow him to do his job better or allow for better care for a vulnerable person? that is going to be the key to this. in terms of the police investigation or examining the information that the police are doing, the problem is these are health protection regulations. it is not a very high ranking law in many ways. initially the fine is £60 if you pay it early. what degree of police resources should go into that? and also how proportional would it be to trawl through mobile phone records? would that be appropriate? can that be done from examining where dominic cummings' car went through anpr

cameras? that is what they have to wrestle with, what is the right level of intrusion and investigation to get to the facts in this case. level of intrusion and investigation to get to the facts in this caselj guess they will start off by listening to what he has got to say this afternoon at four o'clock. but the police are in a delicate position over this, aren't they? they are because people want to see even the closest adviser to the prime minister being treated the same way as the public. enforcement was always the last resort for the police, initially they were going to speak to people, advise people, educate them. you might say in this case if it wasn't a close adviser to the prime minister david might say what are you doing here, and now you are here maybe you should stay here and don't do anything else, giving advice about what the health protection regulations were, and only find someone if there is a ma nifest only find someone if there is a manifest further breach of the regulations —— fine someone. so yes,

certainly an adviser to the prime minister should be treated the same as members of the public, but should he be treated more harshly? should they go after him with cctv and mobile phone records in a way they wouldn't have gone after somebody else? daniel, thank you very much indeed for that update. let's talk about what he might be speaking about. with me is joeyjones, a former adviser to theresa may. and i'm alsojoined by alex deane, a former adviser to david cameron. this is an unprecedented situation to have a chief adviser doing his own press conference and taking questions at number 10? it is extraordinary. given the stakes, i find it beggars belief, really, to

see that dominic cummings is raising the stakes. his whole career hangs bya the stakes. his whole career hangs by a thread and yet he is milking it, making the most of the drama, he is turning the soap opera into something more technicolour than we could have anticipated. the risk from that is very profound, notjust for him, but for the prime minister, as well, because even if... lets assume for the sake of argument, i do not want to predict anything he might do, because he relishes playing against time and confounding expectation, but if we assume he wants... this is for the long haul and he wants to retain his career in downing street and this is an attempt to salvage his position, it is very hard to see how he can do that without making his own boss look rather foolish. he that without making his own boss look ratherfoolish. he has that without making his own boss look rather foolish. he has a grander setting than boris johnson

yesterday and if he is to retain his job he has to do better than boris johnson did yesterday inside downing street. all things considered, the gamble is something i have never really seen in the period i have reported on downing street and politics and all the year subsequently. and former adviser to david cameron, is the fact dominic cummings is having to do this press conference at downing street, is that really because borisjohnson yesterday failed to answer all the questions and defuse the row?|j worked for david cameron in opposition. i agree this is unprecedented and the guidelines for special advisers say in general terms they should not be engaged in public activities with the press, giving speeches and this is really

new territory. where i do not agree with joey new territory. where i do not agree withjoeyjones is i do not think dominic cummings is milking this, i think he had to speak to the public and there is a sense we could not go on without a direct response and answer from the person at the centre of the story and from that extent i acce pt of the story and from that extent i accept the premise. hearing from anyone else, even the prime minister, would not satisfy, it has to be dominic cummings himself. do you think he has a case to answer? 0n the first set of allegations, going up for childcare reasons, if that was the only thing we were talking about it would be defensible andl talking about it would be defensible and i defend him on it. there was an exception in the regulations and still is now for caring for vulnerable people, including children, and that was what he was doing. the trouble is the second allegation about a second trip. let's be clear, he denies any second trip occurred and he is entitled to

the presumption of innocence. this is coming down to in the end the law and we believe in the presumption of innocence. yes he has to give answers, he cannot get away with saying nothing, but he should be heard and there are two sides to the story. rather than being condemned out of hand, but having his say, he will have it tonight but boy, they are high stakes. joey jones, whatever we hear from him are high stakes. joey jones, whatever we hearfrom him this afternoon, do you think a lot of damage has already been done in this sense the public, it has been said, may be less inclined to obey public health guidance in the coming weeks and months? that guidance is getting more complex and depending on millions of people up and down the country, notably parents, who have to make a judgment as to whether they will accept the guidance about sending children back to school. all

of that hangs in the balance so it does have importance as far as that is concerned. alex is right to say let's wait and hear what dominic cummings has to say to justify his actions. if it is as straightforward as all that and his argument is something at face value any of us would feel to be reasonable, why did he not articulate it when the questions were first put to him weeks ago? the guardian and the mirror had the story a long time ago and came to downing street and instead of responding and saying it is fairenough, we instead of responding and saying it is fair enough, we should deal with what on the face of it looks a fairly extraordinary state of affairs, they circled the wagons and viewed it as a politically motivated conspiracy and made a difficult situation immeasurably worse, bringing notjust situation immeasurably worse, bringing not just the situation immeasurably worse, bringing notjust the prime minister into it with the news conference yesterday, but a succession of

cabinet ministers and other ministers paraded out there to justify his actions without, it seems, a clear idea as to what he did ordidn't seems, a clear idea as to what he did or didn't do. as part of the problem, the way it has been handled, we saw dominic cummings outside his house on saturday saying to reporters, i don't care how this looks. surely it matters how it looks? 0n the contrary, i think there is a problem, the way the media approached him. he has been handed in his street in ways that are disgraceful, and encouraged in doing so by the local mp emily thornberry in the way that is irresponsible. people take delight in someone chase down the street and having abuse hurled at him simply because they do not like him, and i think we have good recent reasons to realise public hysteria directed at individuals is a bad idea and it is

responsible to calm people in those circumstances, rather than stoke it up. what you make of the minor revolt we have seen in the conservative party with mps queueing up conservative party with mps queueing up yesterday. 0n conservative party with mps queueing up yesterday. on saturday we had ministers queueing up to defend mr cummings but yesterday we had backbench mps like steve baker, a fellow brexiteer, queueing up to denounce him. some of those mps are flat out enemies of dominic cummings and he has never disguised his co nte m pt and he has never disguised his contempt for members of parliament, even members of his own government, in the past, and there is little doubt personal rancour will have played a part in some of the reasons why people have been getting out and being trenchant. why people have been getting out and being trencha nt. i why people have been getting out and being trenchant. i think the more difficult thing for dominic cummings and the government is that overwhelmingly, what mps are saying

is they are reflecting the mood of their constituents. that is what is damaging. dominic cummings has a lwa ys damaging. dominic cummings has always been, well, his great strength has been he has reached out beyond the westminster bubble and understand what the country at large was thinking beyond if you like the westminster village. in this case, what is being transmitted, mps right across the spectrum, is this is not across the spectrum, is this is not a bubble issue, it is something that has gone beyond just the westminster lobby and parliamentarians. this is something that has cut through to people that the conservative party has depended on, borisjohnson depended on, to install him in office. now many of them seem to feel that he and dominic cummings are treating them with contempt.

thank you for being with us. we expect that news conference at lipm. we will of course bring that as soon as it begins. as we wait for that, let's talk to tom harwood from guido fawkes. tom, you have been defending dominic cummings. is this a wise move for him to talk to the press and put what seems like will be his side of the story? it certainly suggests he thinks he has truth on his site. for the last four days we have had a relentless media campaign led by people who do not like dominic cummings very much, and almost delighted in making trouble for the government. it will be i think a refreshing opportunity to hearfrom

dominic cummings, obviously this is an unusual situation. it is very rare to see a behind—the—scenes figure in public like this, but he has been dragged out into the public by the media so much over the past year. it was a massive media furore when he went into number 10 in the first place. he has lots of enemies because he does not suffer fools gladly and throughout his political career he has been blunt with people and not sought to make friends, he has sought to do things. that is showing itself now. but because he is not a people person, does it mean we should be saying something that looks bad is a reason for resignation? i am looks bad is a reason for resignation? iam not looks bad is a reason for resignation? i am not sure, looks bad is a reason for resignation? iam not sure, it remains to be seen whether he acted properly within the rules as he has insisted. 0r whether there was bending there. ultimately, there are lots of reasons why dominic cummings

could have acted in the way he did fit within the rules. that is what we will listen for today. do you think it is a case of political enemies ganging up on him?|j think it is a case of political enemies ganging up on him? i think this is totally indefensible and for me it is notjust about dominic cummings but how the prime minister and many ministers handled this and and many ministers handled this and a major issue is it is incredibly insulting to people in the country who missed their parents, grandparents' funerals, their children's, people who could not get extra care for their children. this is an insults. and also undermining their public health message. they allowed the story to continue on and undermining the messaging. when it comes down to it, it has to be either dominic cummings break the rules and the prime minister is

doing anything to defend him, including undermining public health messaging, or the government guidelines were so poorly communicated that so few people understood them there was a broader exemption that apparently dominic cummings exercised meaning thousands of families were struggling when apparently they did not need to. both of those things cannot be true and the major issue is in time, when we have one of the largest death tolls in the world, the government continues to allow this to drag on and basically undermining their message to the public. i find that deeply irresponsible. whatever we think about the rights and wrongs of this. would you accept the pr handling has not been very good? the prime minister himself did not really address all questions asked about this yesterday. dominic cummings said, i don't care how this

looks, and was then accused of arrogance. it is a catch 22. what the number 10 strategy has been is to not try to answer every single allegation thrown at them because the strategy of a lot of campaigners has been to throw lots of mud and hope some of it sticks. you heard talk just now funerals. he hope some of it sticks. you heard talkjust now funerals. he did not go to talkjust now funerals. he did not gotoa talkjust now funerals. he did not go to a funeral. the only one who was was a labour mp and yet we did not hear calls for him to resign. he did not see elderly relatives, he did not see elderly relatives, he did not see elderly relatives, he did not break all of these rules implied about funerals and whatever else. 0bviously, implied about funerals and whatever else. obviously, the government feels tired of having to bat away these nonsense allegations. the accusation is he is in many ways the architect of the lockdown strategy. we do not know, but is thought that

maybe he came up with a slogan stayed home —— stay home, save lives. he is in a particular position as a chief adviser and powerful man in downing street. the british public is grown—up enough to understand the lockdown strategy was not just stay home. understand the lockdown strategy was notjust stay home. there were reams of advice on the government website that layout exceptions and everyone is intelligent enough to understand there were exceptions that were laid out and for some people they apply more than others but there are specific things and obviously it is right to empathise with people who missed out on seeing family and losing loved ones and going to funerals but dominic cummings did not do that, he did not see elderly relatives. that is something labour mp stephen connected. he did not go to funerals, like a labour mp. he did not go to picnic in the park

like the welsh labour health secretary. do you accept it was not just stay home guidance, there was small print and it was more complicated than just stay home? the issue is the extra guidance was for people with a severe risk to life, incredibly vulnerable. 0ne people with a severe risk to life, incredibly vulnerable. one of the issues here is read as one rule for them and another for the rest and to say dominic cummings did not go to funerals, visit elderly relatives is not the point. the point is the reason you see not the point. the point is the reason you see this huge amount of public anger with thousands e—mailing mps, public anger with thousands e—mailing mp5, is because people stuck to the rules and by doing so have gone through horrendous traumas. now the prime minister says in front of the country, you needed to follow your instinct and that would have led you to a different decision. i go back to my point,

dominic cummings broke the rules and the prime minister is doing anything he can to cover him public health messaging at risk, or the rules were so poorly communicated that thousands are i did buy them in a way they did not need to. both cannot be true. the way the government has handled this is appalling at a time when there are already major questions to ask about the handling, given the scale of the death toll in the uk. it cannot be batted away by saying it is political opponents. it is appalling in terms of how the government has communicated and what it means for the public health message. we are being told a news conference with dominic cummings is two minutes away. a brief answer, whatever he says in the next couple of minutes in downing street, do you think ina of minutes in downing street, do you think in a sense a lot of