Boris who came to power riding on massive popular support only six months back, is facing the worst crisis of credibility. Nearly 30 Conservative MPs have expressed their lack of faith in him and are preparing for an open showdown over his refusal to sack his chief adviser, Dominic Cummings. Besides these MPs former cabinet ministers Jeremy Wright and Mark Harper, select committee chairs such as Caroline Nokes and Sir Bob Neill are against him.

Some MPs have also raised the issue of change of stewardship citing peoples’ disillusionment. These leaders are more compelled by the demand of their supporters to take action against Cummings and remove him from the party. Boris reluctance has turned them more volatile and actually been contemplating to hit the streets soon.

These members argue; “there are many people who didn’t get to say goodbye to loved ones; families who could not mourn together; people who didn’t visit sick relatives because they followed the guidance of the government. But here is a person who openly flouts the rules and the prime minister is not inclined to punish him. We cannot tell them they were all wrong and one senior adviser to the government was right.”

In protest against Boris’s refusal to punish Cummings a minister has already resigned. Though senior Tory leaders are yet to speak against Boris’s inaction, the insiders maintain that they are not in the mood to allow him an escape. Thousands dying due to Johnson’s cavalier handling of the epidemic is weighing heavily on his premiership. The Tories are at loss to make out why Boris has been hiding his guilt.

Cummings also admitted of making a separate trip after his family’s 14-day period of isolation to Barnard Castle, a beauty spot 30 miles away from Durham, which he claimed was necessary to check his eyesight was good enough for the longer drive back to London.

By and large these leaders and party MPs are not willing to subscribe to the clarification that Cummings offered on Monday in the rose garden of No 10. He had told newsmen on that day that he had acted as any concerned father would in driving 260 miles to his parents’ property in Durham when his wife was experiencing potential coronavirus symptoms. There are virtually no takers of his explanation. The Britons have only one significant question to ask; is it the ordinary citizen who is supposed to abide by and follow the rules?

A snap YouGov poll unravels the peoples’ mood. According to it 71% of respondents said they thought Cummings had broken the rules, and 59% that he should resign. Forty-six per cent of Tory voters and 52% of leave voters said he should quit. These figures have consistently been on rise.

The anger against Boris and Cummings has acquired a serious narrative for the reason that primarily due to their wrong handling of the crisis Britain lost nearly 61000 precious lives to the coronavirus. The people are still scared of the final outcome with experts expressing fear that a new surge may take place. It is a fact that UK has the world’s highest rates of coronavirus deaths per capita, The Britons look forward to Boris for replying to their question; why has the government of the United Kingdom failed to defend people’s lives?

The situation has simply been complicated due to the refusal of Cummings to apologise. He is known to be a divisive figure and now his refusal for an apparent breach of the rules has touched a nerve with the lockdown-weary public. Boris Johnson’s central mission is to break down all barriers between government and the power of money. It is to allow private interests to intrude into the very heart of government, while marginalising the civil service. This helps to explain why Johnson is so reluctant to let Cummings go.

Tory MPs are also of the view that some collective action, such as a delegation sent to the prime minister by the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers demanding Cummings sacking. Sir Roger Gale, the North Thanet MP, said: “There are people on the 1922 executive who are courageous, and that’s their job. They are elected to tell the PM what he needs to hear, not what he wants to hear.”

The situation might not have taken such an ugly turn if Cummings has shown some kind of restrain and atoned for his wrong doing. On the contrary during his briefing he insisted he did not regret his various journeys.

What has been the matter for concern is the anger over Cummings’ actions and the prime minister’s defence of him has made some people to reject the official guidance on containing the virus, amid perceptions that those in power are failing to make the same sacrifices as the public.

Public health is about trust. It is the responsibility of the people and the state to ensure that this bond of understanding does not get weakened. Both must ensure that people’s interest remains at the heart. But the fact is the major initiative lies with the government.
(IPA Service)