That's true, but then I doubt most were involved at the top of government in formulating messages such as "Stay Home" and "Protect the NHS".
The difference in how Cummings perceives himself and his indispensability is clear when you look at the Prof Neil Ferguson case. It's worth comparing the two.
Ferguson runs the group of scientists at Imperial College London whose projections helped persuade ministers of the need to impose stringent physical distancing rules, or risk the NHS being overwhelmed. Ferguson's breach was simply that his lover visited him twice, and she travelled across London to do it.
Within moments of the revelations in the Telegraph, Cabinet minsters called on him to resign, which he did. Note, however, that apart from initially attending SAGE meetings, Ferguson hadn't actually left his house, and was not suffering from Covid. But still cabinet ministers thought he should go.
Cummings case is very, very different. On the day Cummings ran out of No 10, his wife, Mary Wakefield, appears to have been already ill, according to her Spectator article about the experience, in which she says: “My husband did rush home to look after me.” The article did not mention that soon after he rushed home, the family went to the other end of the country.
Wakefield wrote that Cummings said “I feel weird” and collapsed 24 hours after he came home to look after her, placing their journey north on Friday – perhaps trying to beat the weekend getaway – or Saturday at the latest.
In its defence of Cummings, No 10 said the couple had had to travel north in search of childcare from Cummings’s sister and nieces at the property owned by his parents. But, in the end, Cummings and his wife did not need childcare, No 10 have said, instead relying on the family to deliver food to their door.
The Barnard Castle sighting was also interesting. Would a journey to a popular day-trip destination on a loved one’s birthday, 30 miles from the lockdown location, constitute essential travel or compliance with the government’s “stay home” instruction?
In a piece for the Spectator, the magazine she works for, Wakefield wrote: “We emerged from quarantine into the almost comical uncertainty of London lockdown.” No clarification, however, that they had actually emerged into the capital from Durham.
The eyesight issue is also interesting. Cummings claimed to have driven to BC to 'test his eyesight'. If Cummings had concerns over whether his eyesight was good enough to drive to London, why was he confident enough to drive 30 miles to Barnard Castle, with his wife and son in the vehicle? And as a top government advisor, does he know that driving with impaired vision is illegal?
Cummings said that he took a walk in the second week of his stay in Durham “after I started to recover”. That would suggest he still had some symptoms. The Public Health England guidance on outdoor exercise changed that week and by 9 April all outdoor exercise was prohibited for those with symptoms. So when exactly did the walk take place?
There's a great deal more, such as him not being able to remember whether the family had stopped either on the way to Durham or on their return. Witnesses were able to confirm that they certainly did stop in BC and went for a walk.
So while it's pretty conclusive that he is a stranger to the truth, and that he considers himself above the law, unlike Ferguson there have been few calls for him to resign by cabinet ministers.
Why should he resign?
Well, in true Wizard of Oz style he's the person pulling the strings and government and politics should be about trust. When someone has so brazenly proved that they can't be trusted is it right, ethically and morally, that they continue in a role which has such far-reaching consequences for all of us?
