Downing Street defends Dominic Cummings amid questions over 260-mile lockdown trip

His job is to work in the shadows of government but yet again the Prime Minister’s Chief Adviser is in the spotlight.

Those defending Dominic Cummings’ decision to drive to his parents house in County Durham say he acted legally. Others accuse him of breaking the lockdown rules he helped impose.

The SNP leader in the Commons, Ian Blackford, wants an investigation into what happened.

Many questions remain.

Did the prime minister know of his trip across the country? And as Downing Street insists that neither he nor his family were spoken to by the police, Durham Constabulary have stood by their statement to the contrary.

Our Political Correspondent Liz Bates reports.