Journalist brands people "attacking" Dominic Cummings as a "deranged mob"

25 May 2020, 08:41

Journalist brands people "attacking" Dominic Cummings as "deranged"

This journalist brands the public and media as a "deranged mob" for "attacking the Prime Minister's senior aide after he reportedly broke lockdown rules.

The Prime Minister defended senior aide Dominic Cummings in Sunday's press briefing amid reports he flouted lockdown rules repeatedly.

Editor of Spiked Online, Brendan O'Neill, told Nick he thought the mob after Dominic Cummings was more disturbing than the aide's actions.

"We are witnessing an explosion of Cummings derangement syndrome and I can't remember anything like this in the media in recent times, it is completely and utterly deranged," Mr O'Neill said.

He said the outrage is coming from the Metropolitan middle classes in particular.

"We have seen them publishing stories on the front page of the newspapers that cannot be stacked up, we've seen a mob of people outside Dominic Cummings' private home screaming at him about dead people, we've seen left-wing activists turn up with a truck and blast out grim news about death outside his house with no regard for the very young child who lives inside.

"This is not normal behaviour," he said, "what isn't normal is the unhinged response we've seen from the media classes."

Nick countered that people have said the defence of Mr Cummings' actions have left them feeling foolish for not visiting dying loved ones or ill children.

Mr O'Neill said "many many people" have bended the rules of lockdown: "I know people who have visited sick relatives and by the letter of the guidelines they shouldn't have done so. People are doing this, so Dominic if he did do this, joins a pretty significant minority of people."

He continued that the senior aide self-isolated in a house that was not his normal house and "he did so incase his child needed childcare for family members who were trusted, I don't think that's a grave lockdown crime."

There have been reports in newspapers such as the Sunday Mirror that Dominic Cummings made a second trip to Durham during lockdown where he "walked amongst the bluebells."

Mr O'Neill said if their reporting is incorrect, their front page coverage of this allegation means the outlet have a "lot more to answer for than Dominic Cummings."