Nicola Sturgeon has added her voice to a list of growing calls for Dominic Cummings to step down as chief strategist.
It comes after Boris Johnson’s chief adviser travelled more than 260 miles during the coronavirus lockdown to Durham in the northeast of England, to be near his family.
Nicola Sturgeon said Mr Cummings should quit his post, drawing a comparison to the resignation of Catherine Calderwood as Scotland’s chief medical officer after she visited her second home twice earlier in the crisis.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson to face media at daily No 10 briefing over Cummings row
Taking to social media the Scottish First Minister said: "I know it is tough to lose a trusted adviser at the height of crisis, but when it’s a choice of that or integrity of vital public health advice, the latter must come first.
"That’s the judgment I and, to her credit, Catherine Calderwood reached. PM and Cummings should do likewise."
I know it is tough to lose a trusted adviser at the height of crisis, but when it’s a choice of that or integrity of vital public health advice, the latter must come first. That’s the judgment I and, to her credit, Catherine Calderwood reached. PM and Cummings should do likewise.
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) May 24, 2020
Several Conservative MPs such as Steve Baker, Damian Collins, Simon Hoare, William Wragg, Caroline Noakes, Peter Bone and Sir Roger Gale have all called for Cummings to quit.
Last month Scotland's chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood was removed from her post father she flouted coronavirus lockdown rules by visiting her second home.
SNP’s Westminster leader, Ian Blackford – who has been calling on the Prime Minister to sack Dominic Cummings, said it was the “only acceptable course of action” at this stage.
He tweeted: “There are suggestions Boris Johnson is attempting to kick the issue into the long grass with an extended ‘investigation’.
“Let’s be clear, that would be far too little too late at this stage. The only acceptable course of action now is to remove Dominic Cummings from his post.
“We already know Dominic Cummings broke multiple lockdown rules. There can’t be one rule for the Tory government and another for the rest of us. Any attempt to fob off questions and cling onto his adviser in this way would not be acceptable. It simply won’t wash.
“I hope Boris Johnson will come to the press conference and announce Dominic Cummings has finally done the decent thing and resigned – or been removed. If not, this will drag on and on, and seriously undermine public confidence in the Tory government and its Covid-19 response.”
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