The Westminster SNP leader called for Dominic Cummings to resign after he visited Durham and then Barnard Castle during the lockdown.
Ian Blackford the Westminster SNP MP has been called a “hypocrite” for travelling 600-miles during the coronavirus lockdown from his London home to his home in the Isle of Skye
Blackford tweeted on 26 March, “Returned to Skye from Westminster but into isolation as a precaution away from Ann and everyone else given the prevalence of the virus in London.
“The right thing to do but hard not seeing Ann. #StayHomeSaveLives.”
This has provoked outrage and he has been called a “hypocrite” following his continued calls for Cummings to resign, who was sick at the time.
Jack Montgomery, head of Leave.EU during the Brexit referendum, tweeted, “Will @theSNP be calling for Ian Blackford to step down as the party’s leader in Westminster? London to Skye a much longer journey than London to Durham…
“As far as we know, Blackford didn’t have special child care needs like Cummings, either.
“Blackford had accommodation in London, provided by thousands of pounds in taxpayer-funded accommodation expenses.
“He can argue he had a right to travel to his multi-acre estate anyway, but not while claiming the moral high ground over Cummings.”
Another person wrote, “Weren’t people told to stop fleeing London and spreading the virus to the countryside?”
A critic wrote on Twitter, “He had a home in London as well no need for him to travel that distance from a highly infected area.”
Another person said, “Lockdown commence 23/3 but on 26/3 Senior @theSNP MP Ian Blackford leaves London (acknowledging the prevalence of the virus in capital) and travels 615 miles to Isle of Skye to isolate (while acknowledging there are no ventilators on island & nearest DGH is 135m away) hypocrisy?”
This week Blackford along with other Westminster leaders wrote to the Prime Minister calling on Cummings to be sacked.
They wrote, “It is now a matter of record that Mr Dominic Cummings broke multiple lockdown rules.
“He is yet to express any apology or contrition for these actions. There cannot be one rule for those involved in formulating public health advice and another for the rest of us.
“This is an issue that transcends politics. It has united people of every party and political persuasion, who believe strongly that it is now your responsibility as Prime Minister to return cla rity and trust in public health messaging.
“We are clear that this can now only be achieved by removing Dominic Cummings from his post without further delay.”
