Church leaders have lamented Dominic Cummings’ lack of apology and fear that his forced public explanation over why he left London for Durham during lockdown will not be enough to restore full confidence in the government.
It came as police said they were investigating hate mail, including a death threat against the bishop of Ripon. Her colleagues, the bishops of Worcester and Newcastle, said they had received similar messages.
For Cummings to face the cameras and give his account was “overall a good thing,” said the Rt Revd Paul Bayes, the bishop of Liverpool. “It implies that it’s time to tell the truth, which is always good, although the questions from reporters made pretty clear he didn’t entirely convince people.”
Whether Cummings was sacked or resigned was not the point. “The point is do we trust the government? In particular, if the government start to give us clear advice on lifting of lockdown, are people going to trust it, or just wait to see what Dominic Cummings does?” Bayes said.
“If they had said ‘we’re so sorry, it was a mistake to have hidden the truth for so long, it was unfortunate that the guy felt the need to do this and he regrets it very much’, if we had heard stuff like that I think the credibility of the government going forward would have been greater.
“Rather, what we got was ‘ I don’t regret anything. I’m clever enough to read the small print and you’re not’. That kind of message I don’t think gives us confidence going forward”, said Bayes.
He added that the bishops who had been openly critical of Boris Johnson’s chief adviser were speaking as individuals, “as is our perfect right”, and that those who felt they ought not to express opinions had missed the distinction between commenting on politics and commenting on public life.
Several bishops tweeted they had received hate mail, included death threats, after criticism of the government over the Cummings affair. Police are investigating an email to the bishop of Ripon, Rev Helen-Ann Hartley, which read: “Stay out of politics or it will be the death of you”
The bishop of Worcester, the Rt Revd John Inge, received an email that read: “Keep out of politics or we will kill you”.
He said: “I see this not as a matter of politics, but of life and death,” adding if trust in government advice was not restored, a second spike in the virus could lead to thousands of people losing their lives.
Christine Hardman, the bishop of Newcastle, wrote: “I too received such an email. I feel concern for the person who sent it and will hold him or her in prayer.” The previous night she had posted that she was “deeply troubled” by the prime minister’s defence of his adviser.
There are concerns that Cummings’ example would lead to others breaking lockdown amid the perception “there’s one law for the government and its cronies, and another for the rest of us”, said the Rt Revd Pete Broadbent, the bishop of Willesden.
“I was glad he was prepared to try to explain things. I don’t think his explanation was satisfactory,” he added. “ Their [the government’s] way of operating is never apologise, never explain, and has also become never engage.
“I am more worried about the long-term effects. In the end, Cummings is a barometer for the way in which government might be going under this regime.
“The bishops who made their concerns known – OK, we may all be characterised as a bunch of ‘remainers’ trying to get vengeance – but it’s nothing to do with that.
“We believe there needs to be a place where there’s proper accountability, proper democracy, and the capacity for government to be held to account for the policies it has implemented.”
