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Campaign group Led By Donkeys has set up a new installation in London, this time directly outside the front door of Dominic Cummings.
A van was parked outside the chief Downing Street advisor’s home on Sunday afternoon, displaying a video message of Boris Johnson’s
March 23 address to the country in which the PM states “you must stay home”.
The video, shared widely by reporters based outside Cummings’ home, also features clips of news reports and a self-shot video from a coronavirus patient.
Later video footage, shares by the campaign group, shows the same van parked up outside Downing Street where Dominic Cummings is believed to have been located since leaving home on Sunday morning.
Cummings has faced intense criticism over the weekend for leaving London for Durham during lockdown at least twice to visit family, despite displaying symptoms of Covid-19.
A Downing Street spokesperson said a visit to the senior advisor’s parents’ home was ‘essential’ in order to secure childcare for his four-year-old son, and has vehemently denied reports of other trips to the north east.
Number 10 said it would “not waste time” replying to fresh allegations from “campaigning newspapers” – referring to The Mirror and The Guardian, who broke the news.
Speaking outside his London home on Sunday, after one journalist asked if he had been back to Durham in April, Cummings said: “No, I did not.”
Boris Johnson has offered his “full support” to his chief adviser, who has also been supported with near-identical messages from several senior ministers, but a number of backbenchers have called for Cummings’ immediate resignation, describing his positions as “untenable.”
Led by Donkeys also put up a separate installation on Westminster Bridge Road on Friday.
Posting a photo of the billboard, which reads “Stay alert, Government incompetence costs lives”, the group said: “When the PM’s top adviser is criss-crossing the country with coronavirus, it’s definitely time to stay alert.”
Johnson defended Mr Cummings after news surfaced that he had travelled to Durham, but Downing Street said it would “not waste time” replying to fresh allegations from “campaigning newspapers”.
While the video installation has been met with approval by many fans of the group’s previous stunts – as well as those furious with Cummings’ actions – it has also faced criticism for “intimidating” the advisor’s family.
Reporter Sam Holder later tweeted to say that Cummings’ family were not inside the property at the time of Led By Donkey’s arrival.
Led By Donkeys have not yet shared their own material of the protest, but a spokesperson confirmed to HuffPost UK that they were behind the installation.
The Labour Party has called for Johnson to front the daily Downing Street press conference to explain what went on, and is demanding an investigation into Cummings’ behaviour.