A Scots Tory Minister has quit the Government after Dominic Cummings broke lockdown rules by driving to Durham for health and childcare reasons.
Douglas Ross, who was a junior minister in the Scotland Office, quit in protest at the behaviour of Boris Johnson’s top aide.
The MP for Moray said said: "I have never met Dominic Cummings so my judgement on this matter has always been open and I accept his statement on Monday afternoon clarified the actions he took in what he felt were the best interests of his family.
“However these were decisions many others felt were not available to them.”
He added: “As a father myself, my instinct is to always do what is best for my son and wife. We have been fortunate not to have caught this awful virus but if we did, we are prepared to follow the government advice and stay at home to contain the virus.
“I have constituents who didn’t get to say goodbye to loved ones; families who could not mourn together; people who didn’t visit sick relatives because they followed the guidance of the government. I cannot in good faith tell them they were all wrong and one senior adviser to the government was right.”
In a televised statement yesterday, Cummings, who is the Prime Minister's most senior adviser, tried to explain his trip from Durham to London.
Cummings insisted he had done nothing wrong by driving 260 miles to his parents' home during lockdown over health fears.
In an unprecedented move the Prime Minister gave Cummings the platform of the Downing Street rose garden to issue a lengthy defence which focused on his decisions as a concerned parent and husband.
In a staggering statement Cummings justified his actions in what he described as “exceptional circumstances”.
Cummings confirmed that he left London with his ill wife and child and that he went for a drive and a walk in Barnard Castle, 30 miles from self-isolation, while he was in Durham.
He said he did not consider resigning over the issue or tell the PM he was leaving London.
He said: “I don’t regret what I did, reasonable people may disagree but I think what I did was reasonable in the circumstances.”
However, his actions have infuriated voters who have made huge sacrifices during lockdown by staying at home.
His actions also angered Tory MPs, some of whom called on him to quit.
However, Cummings said yesterday he would not resign over the controversy.
He said: “I have not offered to resign, I have not considered it.”
He used a paragraph in the general lockdown guidelines to give himself licence to travel from his home to Durham and fuelled the public fury about Johnson’s “one rule for us” acceptance of his behaviour.
He added: “In terms of the rules they made clear if you are dealing with small children there are exceptional circumstances. The way I dealt with it was the least risk to everyone concerned if my wife and I were unable to deal with our child.”
“I think people realise this was a complicated tricky situation, I was trying to weigh up a lot of different things.”
He insisted he did not stop anywhere on the journey to his parents farm in Durham and only left to take his son to hospital when he fell ill.
Cummings did confirm that he and his wife and child visited Barnard Castle, 30 miles from his parents’ home, 15 days after both had fallen ill.
Ross was first elected to Westminster in 2017, before being re-elected two years later.
He has also been a party MSP and a councillor.
Jackson Carlaw, the Scottish Tory leader, said of Ross' decision:
"Great loss to the Scotland Office and UK Government, sorry to see him go but entirely respect and understand his decision. I know he will continue to be an excellent MP for Moray as we all seek to tackle this health crisis."
Secretary of State for Scotland Alister Jack said: “I would like to thank Douglas Ross for his contribution as a minister at the Scotland Office. I know he will continue to be a dedicated and hardworking constituency MP for Moray.”
