Buffoon or not he's the PM and needs to be visible in these dark times, OR, if Covid has as been mooted knocked the stuffing out of him requiring more rest then his communications team need to bl00dy well say so with his 2nd in command stepping in. He was quite prepared to front up and agree with Cummings' actions but with violent protests on the streets including vandalising the Cenotaph and Churchill's statue he's nowhere to be seen.

On the protests themselves - given the scale of them the violence was minimal at best, low at worst yet the media put it front & centre. The police have acted impeccably (perhaps that's the point the media are making here to turn public opinion against the protesters?) but they simply don't have the numbers to control large mobs so damage limitation applies? Clearly these ignorant fools think taking to the streets in large numbers to shout at the police is of greater importance than a pandemic that kills their parents & grandparents. Incubation of 5 to 14 days - let's see where the R number is in the cities in a week or two.

I did see in one of the briefings (Friday?) that folk were told not to gather - many ignored it, presumably Cummings used as an excuse.

Shambles.