The prime minister’s chief aide Dominic Cummings is facing fresh allegations that he breached lockdown rules.
He and the government had said he acted “reasonably and legally” by driving from London to County Durham while his wife had Coronavirus symptoms.
The Observer and Sunday Mirror are now reporting he was seen in the North East on two more occasions, after recovering from his own COVID-19 symptoms and returning to work in London.
No 10 said the story is “inaccurate”.
Ministers have said Mr Cummings and his wife had chosen to self-isolate at a property adjacent to other family members in case they needed help with childcare.
Speaking to reporters outside his home in London on Saturday, he said he would not be resigning and had done the “right thing” by travelling 260 miles with his wife and young son to be near relatives when she developed COVID-19 symptoms at the end of March.
However, the two newspapers said witnesses have reported seeing Mr Cummings in Barnard Castle, more than 25 miles from Durham, on 12 April.
On 14 April, he was seen in London. According to the reports, he was spotted again in Houghall Woods near Durham on 19 April.
Mr Cummings is yet to publicly respond to the new claims, but the Sunday Telegraph reports that he told Downing Street that the allegations he made a second trip from London to Durham were “totally false”.
But the BBC’s political correspondent Iain Watson says ministers will be hoping that questions about Mr Cummings’ movements will not have dented public trust in the government’s lockdown guidance.
Quit calls
The story of Mr Cummings’ journey to Durham originally appeared in the Guardian and Daily Mirror on Friday evening.
In response to the fresh claims in the papers’ Sunday publications, Downing Street said: “Yesterday the Mirror and Guardian wrote inaccurate stories about Mr Cummings.
“Today they are writing more inaccurate stories including claims that Mr Cummings returned to Durham after returning to work in Downing Street on 14 April.
“We will not waste our time answering a stream of false allegations about Mr Cummings from campaigning newspapers.”
Opposition parties renewed their calls for the prime minister’s adviser to go.
The SNP’s Ian Blackford said Mr Cummings “has to leave office”, while acting Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey told BBC Radio 5 Live: “If Dominic Cummings has not been sacked by tomorrow, I think the prime minister’s judgement is in serious doubt.”
Ministerial backing
Government advice had been for people to stay at home during the first weeks of lockdown. Self-isolation at home continues to be advised for those with coronavirus symptoms.
However, ministers offered their support to Mr Cummings earlier in the day, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeting that it was “entirely right” for the senior aide to find childcare.
Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove tweeted: “Caring for your wife and child is not a crime.”
England’s deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries also said all health guidance should be applied with “common sense”.
But following the fresh reports concerning the alleged second visit to County Durham, a Labour source said: “If these latest revelations are true, why on earth were Cabinet ministers sent out this afternoon to defend Dominic Cummings?”
Before the new allegations, both Labour and the SNP said Mr Cummings flouted the government’s own advice and called for an urgent inquiry into his conduct.
It comes as the government announced 282 more people had died with Coronavirus since Friday, across all settings, bringing the total to 36,675.
Source:Â bbc.com