Sir,Residents right across the Preseli Pembrokeshire and Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire constituencies have made incredible sacrifices to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and Wales has not followed England in loosening the lockdown, especially with regards to travelling.

However, the news has been dominated over the Bank Holiday by reports that Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s senior advisor, wilfully disregarded the lockdown rules. The rules that he probably helped draw up. Social media has shown how angry people are. People who have supported the Prime Minister and the Conservative Party have shown their utter disgust at the way the rules were apparently broken and by the PM putting his support fully behind Cummings.

The incredulity of the events has also seen a growing number of Conservative MPs demanding the Prime Minister to sack Cummings. That list (at the time of writing this letter) did not include either of our two Conservative MPs. The Prime Minister may have thought that his support for Cummings at the Sunday Press Briefing might end the matter, but all it appeared to do is pour more petrol on the fire. And on Bank Holiday Monday, we had the unusual sight of Cummings holding his own press briefing in the garden of Number 10. That was supposed to have backed up the Prime Minister’s comments from the day before and draw a line under the matter.

Liberal Democrat Acting Leader, Ed Davey, said: His refusal to have the decency to apologise is an insult to us all. It reveals the worst of his elitist arrogance.

And on Tuesday, a junior Minister, Douglas Ross, has resigned from the Government saying “I have constituents who didn’t get to say goodbye to loved ones; families who could not mourn together; people who didn’t visit sick relatives because they followed the guidance from the government.”

Pembrokeshire and Carmarthen West Liberal Democrats share the anger of the people and call upon Stephen Crabb and Simon Hart to call for Cummings to be sacked by the Prime Minister, if he does not resign. The PM’s statement has not ended the matter and if it is not resolved swiftly and soon, it could actually result in calls for the PM to resign. The public are not happy at the way it has been handled and how it could be perceived as one rule for a senior government official and one rule for the other 65 million people in the UK, who were resolutely told to stay at home, and did!

Given the national crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, we fear each minute the Prime Minister allows this scandal to drag on is another minute the Government is unable to give people clear, honest answers about why testing capacity is so low, why there is a lack of protective equipment for frontline workers, why so many are dying in care homes and call for a public inquiry to take place once the pandemic is over to answer all the questions and why so many people have died.

We therefore urge Stephen Crabb and Simon Hart to put the interests of their constituents first, end the distractions and join the growing number of Conservative MPs who are calling for Dominic Cummings to go. The longer it goes on, it could bring down the Prime Minister as well as Cummings.

Andrew C. Lye,

Chair,

Pembrokeshire Liberal Democrats