Dominic Cummings damages health messages: Robin Swann

Robin Swann urged people not to be distracted by the controversy surrounding the prime minister’s top advisor and told them to stick to the guidance and regulations.

Referring to Mr Cummings and the attention his trip to Durham has generated, Mr Swann said: “As ill-judged as many of his actions were, I would urge everyone not to lose sight that we are still very much in the midst of this virus and the grief and loss of so many families is still far too raw.

“It is far too early to allow distractions to take away from the key public messages.”

Mr Swann added: “I believe there’s no person, no position or point of privilege that is above the guidance on the rules and regulations, no matter who they are – because this virus is no respecter of any of those three positions, and no-one is immune from Covid-19, no matter where they are.”

Today Boris Johnson was hit with a ministerial resignation and mounting backbench anger over his spad.

Douglas Ross, a junior minister in the Scotland Office, quit after hearing Mr Cummings’ efforts to defend his trip from London to Durham.

That resignation came as Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove sought to defend his longstanding ally as having acted in an “entirely reasonable” way, and within the law.

But Mr Ross, the MP for Moray, said: “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 advisor to the government was right.”

Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw joined at least 24 Tory MPs in calling for the aide to quit or be sacked by the PM.

Downing Street insisted the PM had not split the government by backing Mr Cummings amid concerns over how the decision will affect health advice.

There was fury on the Tory benches as MPs reflected on the correspondence they had received from constituents.

Former attorney general Jeremy Wright called for Mr Cummings to quit while former chief whip Mark Harper said Mr Cummings “should have offered to resign, and the PM should have accepted his resignation”.

The Westminster opposition leaders of the SNP, Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru, SDLP, Green Party and Alliance Party wrote to the PM urging him to sack his top advisor “without further delay” – but the DUP did not sign the letter.