One Conservative MP — from Johnson’s own party — told BBC radio he had received more than 100 emails from constituents saying the scandal \"hit a raw nerve.\"
While the majority of cabinet members have tweeted their support for Cummings, a growing number of Conservative MPs have called for him to resign.
The Daily Mail, a rightwing newspaper that is usually sympathetic to Johnson’s administration, published a scathing front page on Monday morning, with an editorial calling for Cummings to either resign or be fired.
The row also received concerned statements from scientists involved in advising the government on its coronavirus response.
Professor Stephen Reicher, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours, said that Cummings’ actions had undermined efforts to fight the virus and claimed that \"more people are going to die\" as a result.
A statement Saturday from the Prime Minister’s Office at Number 10 Downing Street refuted claims in the media that the Durham Police had contacted the Cummings family, saying that \"at no stage was [Mr Cummings] or his family spoken to by the police.\"
But minutes before Cummings’ press conference Monday, the Durham Constabulary issued a new statement: \"We can confirm that on April 1, an officer from Durham Constabulary spoke to the father of Dominic Cummings.\"
What to know about coronavirus:
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