SOME may have been dismayed by the obfuscation that has emanated from 10 Downing Street during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Announcing PPE shipments that hadn’t even been ordered yet. Gaslighting our NHS staff with false accusations they were mis-using PPE. Double-counting tests to make stats look better.

Many have given Johnson the benefit of the doubt. But last weekend’s cover-up of Dominic Cummings’ breach of quarantine is a bridge too far for the vast majority of us.

The rules, enshrined in law on March 26, say if you are Covid-positive, or exposed to it, you must stay home unless there’s a life-threatening situation. We are being asked to believe that one of the most powerful men in the country, with family, friends and a brilliant community support group in London, acted reasonably in carrying the virus from one region to another, because he was concerned about childcare and is an icon of paternal love.

The proof that this is humbug is that millions of parents faced with the exact same dilemma acted for the greater good, found solutions in the local community as instructed and, despite immense difficulties, didn’t do what he did.

This government is taking us for mugs. It’s one rule for the elite, another for us. They are mocking the sacrifice of those who couldn’t attend their loved ones’ funerals, couldn’t hold their hand while they passed, couldn’t tell them face-to-face that they loved them one last time. It’s breathtakingly arrogant, profoundly insulting and utterly unforgivable.

KIM PARKER

Coy Pond Road, Branksome