London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 23, 2025

MP hammers Boris Johnson over ‘disgraceful’ defence of Cummings

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi describes family’s suffering during lockdown as he condemns response to No 10 aide’s trip

Boris Johnson has declined to apologise to a Labour MP who condemned the “absolute disgrace” of ministers defending Dominic Cummings’ breach of lockdown rules, while other people missed the funerals and last moments of loved ones.

In a passionate intervention at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi listed the funerals and other events he had missed because of Covid guidelines, and demanded Johnson apologise for not having sacked his then chief adviser last year.

Johnson did say in response that he was “deeply, deeply sorry”, but ignored Dhesi’s question to instead express general regret at the suffering experienced by people during the pandemic.

The Slough MP began his question by describing his own experiences in abiding by lockdown rules.

“My grandmother, whom I loved dearly, was lying on her hospital deathbed and none of us were allowed to be there, to comfort her in her final moments. I couldn’t even carry her coffin on my shoulders,” he said.

“I also had to endure the agony of watching alone, online, the funeral of my uncle, my fun-loving uncle. And we were not there to comfort my brother-in-law’s father, who had somehow contracted Covid in a Slough care home, during his final moments. All this because we followed government guidance.”

He then contrasted this with the behaviour of Cummings, who travelled from London to Durham amid the peak of the lockdown in March last year, and once there made a 52-mile round trip to the local beauty spot of Barnard Castle with his family on Easter Sunday, an expedition he later said was only undertaken so he could test his eyesight.

Johnson and other ministers vigorously defended Cummings’ actions, and his eventual departure from No 10 in November last year was unconnected to the trip.

Dhesi said: “Having experienced such painful, personal sacrifices, like many others, imagine our collective disgust when in order to curry favour with the prime minister’s chief adviser, we see sycophantic, spineless, hypocritical government ministers lining up to defend the indefensible, saying, ‘It’s time to move on,’ with some even having the gall to tell us that they too go for a long drive when they need to get their eyesight tested.

“What an absolute disgrace, and they should all be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. So when is the prime minister finally going to apologise to the nation for not mustering up some courage and integrity, for not doing the honourable thing and sacking his chief adviser who so shamelessly flouted his own government guidance?

“He could have regained that lost public trust and confidence and he could have demonstrated that it’s not one rule for him and his elite chums, and another for the rest of us plebs.”

Johnson replied by saying he and others in the government “sympathises with those who have gone through the suffering described by the gentleman opposite”.

Saying he would “take his criticisms most sincerely of the government”, Johnson did apologise, but not for his own actions: “I apologise for the suffering the people of this country have endured. All I can say is, nothing I can say or do can take back the lost lives, the lost time spent with loved ones that he describes. And I’m deeply, deeply sorry for that.”

Dhesi has previously lambasted Johnson at PMQs. In 2019, the MP was cheered in the Commons for condemning the prime minister’s language on race and religion, notably a 2018 Daily Telegraph column in which Johnson compared Muslim women to “letterboxes” and “bank robbers”.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×