Mark Garnier MP: Dominic Cummings' actions were 'just plain dumb'
Mark Garnier has become the latest Conservative MP to call for Dominic Cummings to resign over allegations that he breached lockdown rules.
The Wyre Forest MP said the Prime Minister's top aide "causes too many problems at multiple levels" by staying in government and that his resignation was now "the only way forward".
Former International Trade Minister Mr Garnier, said: "For him to stay would be to reject the valiant efforts of millions of us all who have done what we can to squash this infection."
More than 40 Tory MPs now have called for Mr Cummings to quit, after he drove 260 miles to his parents' property in Durham with his wife and young child during lockdown, and also took a 60 mile round trip to a local beauty spot to test his eyesight.
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In an email sent to concerned constituents, Mr Garnier said he had "a small amount" of sympathy for the situation Mr Cummings' family were in, with his wife having come down with Covid-19 symptoms and reporters "camped outside his house".
But he said he also understood "the anger that is being levelled at him". "The guidance if sick is to stay at home – not any home, or someone else's home, or even a second home," Mr Garnier said.
"You must stay at you own home. He admitted to, firstly, going to Downing Street when he should have been self-isolating.
"He then, literally, packed his car with coronavirus and drove it to an area where there was relatively little infection.
"When he had recovered, he embarked on a bizarre road test of his ability to drive. This is in clear breach of the Highway Code rule 91 (fitness to drive) and rule 92 (eyesight).
"Aside from that, it was just plain dumb."
Mr Garnier, who has represented Wyre Forest for the last decade, went on: "To a certain extent, Cummings is a victim of a media storm – but only to a certain extent.
"Whilst I have no affection for him, I do recognise that he has value in government and my initial thoughts were that he should probably be kept.
"But it is clear to me that despite his story, despite an element of politics in this, and despite his value to the government, his remaining in No10 now causes too many problems at multiple levels.
Boris Johnson has been backed by the majority of Conservative MPs – including those in the Black Country and Staffordshire – in calling for the country to "move on" from the issue.
He told a parliamentary committee that while he "totally understands the public indignation" over the scandal, Mr Cummings would not be sacked or face an investigation by the Cabinet Office.
