As Boris Johnson faces calls to sack his top adviser for allegedly breaking lockdown rules, some critics are warning a dangerous precedent has been set.

If Dominic Cummings can drive 250 miles to stay at his parents’ home in Durham with his wife, suffering from coronavirus symptoms, many warn not showing him the door could send a message that ‘lockdown is over’.

As the scandal rumbled on throughout the day, the Government posted a tweet saying: ‘There are a limited number of things you can now do in England that you could not do before. Controlling the virus means no visits to friend’s homes’.

Naturally, people were quick to accuse them of double standards as Cummings goes unpunished for his alleged discretion. People asked if the plea to the public ‘applies to the Prime Minister’s special advisers’ while one accused the Government of ‘gaslighting 65,000,000 people’.

Comedy writer Sarah Dempster asked if she could ‘drive to Durham if I’m a libertarian in a padded gilet’, while fellow comic and author James Felton said: ‘What if I have coronavirus though, I hear that’s somehow fine?’

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Mike Scott added: ‘From today I’ve learnt we visit the Grandparents only if we’re 100% sure we’re infected. Can the Government please urgently clarify this!?’

In early May Professor Neil Ferguson resigned from the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) after it emerged he had broken social distancing rules to meet his married lover.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick was also accused of flouting lockdown rules after visiting his parents more than an hour away, despite urging the public to avoid unnecessary journeys.

‘We will not waste our time answering a stream of false allegations about Mr Cummings from campaigning newspapers.’

Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan has ‘banned all cabinet ministers’ from appearing on the show.

He said the ‘only exceptions will be those who didn’t publicly support Cummings breaching lockdown’.

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