It’s that name, the one that seemingly has only just become familiar to the recent political amateur. It’s everywhere and people are vexed: with every single right under current pressures to be so. To outline, for the people reading this, Cummings is a “great supine protoplasmic invertebrate jelly”, avoiding all responsibility for breaking very clear guidelines and the law. In this, I will pick apart these areas of public disgust, and prove to you that Dominic Cummings, for the sake of the country and those with rational thought, should be sacked remorselessly.
1) Undermined the effort of the many
It has been officially ten weeks of the British coronavirus lock down, with the vast majority of people actively avoiding family members and friends, to keep them safe. Every single soul in this country is awaiting that precious moment to hold our loved ones once more. Those with prominent struggles with mental anguish have put their own thoughts and feelings aside, to assure that people are safe, and on a basic human level, to be confident that they haven’t killed someone. Because that is the truth of the matter, this lock down is here with us to ‘save lives’. But Cummings, needed to check his eyesight, travel to see his loved ones despite knowingly having the disease. He also needed to do this because it was the apparent responsible thing to do. I feel as though I am not the only confused British person watching this tale of disrespect unfold. For Cummings to have more access to a greater quality of life right now truly throttles at the efforts of the nation, to which some have had to stand back as loved ones passed through their fingertips. Our weekly claps, our reluctance to end phone calls with friends, our desire to be cuddled when bad feelings cloud over our eyes- all a struggle for us, but not for the special advisor. He has some form of ‘divine right’ that takes us back to the old beliefs of the late Charles I, where the rich have it different to those below that thick, leather social belt, which now feels harder to budge than ever. This is disrespect- our efforts and our sacrifices, our willingness to neglect our own freedoms to life, all a rule we must abide, except for those with a little extra power. If this doesn’t result in Cummings losing his job through abuse of power and status, then the public will start to replicate his attitude. It seems tedious to follow these rigorous rules, when Cummings has shown us that in reality we can simply stick a middle finger up and the PM will ‘ move on from the matter’. Cummings has made these rules seems weak and has flagged up the little power the Prime Minister has over us in these dark times, which will then remove all that sacrificial love we’ve all participated in, and it will start killing people again. He must lose his job, to demonstrate Johnson’s power to the nation, and prove that breaching lock down is in no circumstances acceptable, for anyone.
2) The rich and poor gap
Johnson during his first speech on the 13th December 2019, called his government ‘One Nation’- establishing a Keynesian system where the rich and the poor divide is slowly blurred to further equal treatment overtime. This instils the belief that the Conservative government is keen to respect all classes of society, meaning that under the Coronavirus’ wrath, Johnson is wanting us all to follow the same guidelines no matter our status. The NHS is a nationalised health service, with minimal privatisations under it’s wings, yet still flying high to ensure we all live healthy lives. Johnson has always been proud of the NHS, as we all have, which is why many of us felt so strongly about protecting it through the course of the pandemic. To make sure we all follow these guidelines, the government introduced fines of up to £1,000 to those fobbing these rules off. So, why is Cummings being defended for his actions, when any other ordinary ‘Harry’ for example, would have a hefty fine slapped on them? Many of us are seeing this as a prejudice to those more fearful of losing money; a grand for my 18 year old self is a deafening fear, when for Cummings it would be a little blip in his payment. It has us questioning, is this fining system in place to scare those with little money, where we actually are being treated differently to those with more wealth… Cummings needs to lose his job, to show that the fining system is there to make sure we all follow guidelines and respect them thoroughly. It is evident that the fines for Cummings would be less significant, which is perhaps why he did not hesitate to breach lock down. This attitude and abuse of status should be scrutinised intensively, where the government should demonstrate to their voters that it will not tolerate people that undermine the severity of these times. He must be sacked, in order for the nation to have faith that all are being treated fairly.
3) He has gone unpunished for a criminal offence
It is law that to drive with poor eyesight is illegal. Not only does this risk other drivers, but it risks those inside the vehicle with you. Whenever we are about to take our first driving lesson, the instructor makes us read the number plate from a distance, because it is crucial that we can see properly when we drive. To test his eyesight, Cummings drove to a lovely historical sight near Durham, which was over 200 miles from where he lived. That is a long drive when one has poor eyesight, and seemingly, the public are seething at the fact the government is letting Cummings have this as a valid story. It sounds made up, something of a sketch from Little Britain- as David Walliams poked fun at himself. Cummings has to be sacked for this alone, as he is a part of the government which makes these rules under parliamentary sovereignty- Cummings has managed to break laws that the rest of us would most definitely lose our licenses for. This shows a serious flaunt on behalf of the special advisor, where all rules, don’t apply to him.
4) His actions are ruining support for the government
People feel strongly about this matter, more so upon how the government has brushed these offences aside. The government has to sack Cummings, because it is clear that he has shown his lack of respect for the whole nation, and he should be shot in the foot for doing so as the rest of us would be. Johnson’s approval ratings have dropped down to -1%, in a matter of four days, due to the anger the nation feels about the special advisor’s ‘special’ treatment, where he has managed to: worm his way out of a fine, from losing his driving license and from being held accountable for his breach of lock down rules. All of these things that he’s escaped, we would’ve felt and been rightfully challenged for. In order for the people of our country to respect the government, the government has to respect us, and how our limitations should be universalised to all individuals, removed from any class or social advantage. The government must do the right thing that the people want – to see Cummings being held accountable for doing the wrong things at the wrong time. Otherwise, Johnson and his government may never recover.
Instead of concluding, as most would- I would simply like to just quote myself, as it is enough to sum this saga:
“In order for the people of our country to respect the government, the government has to respect us.”
And there you have it. Mr Cummings, please do us all a favour and resign.
Written by Brooke Myhill - Instagram @brookemyhill
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