MORE than 180,000 people in the UK have emailed their MP after it emerged that Dominic Cummings breached lockdown rules.
A Guardian analysis covering 117 MPs found they have received a total of 31,738 emails since a joint investigation by The Guardian and The Mirror found Cummings travelled more than 250 miles to his parents house during lockdown.
If that level of correspondence was reflected across all 650 MPs, the paper estimates the revelations may have sparked as many as 180,000 items of correspondence.
The numbers were either provided in response to the Guardian’s request for figures, or in statements MPs had released to constituents.
It is said to be the most emails MPs have received since the Brexit vote.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing sustained pressure to sack Cummings after backing him at the Downing Street briefing last week.
Johnson said his top aide had “acted responsibly, legally and with integrity” and that “any parent would frankly understand what he did”.
But half of Tory backbenchers – more than 100 MPs – called for Cummings to be sacked or criticised the PM's response after receiving emails from their constituents.
A number of Tory MPs in marginal seats said they had received more than 1000 emails about Cummings. The average number of emails each MP got was 271 but the Conservative MPs analysed by the Guardian received 590 each on average.
Many MPs said the emails were from people writing to them for the first time and some said it has been the most they have received since Brexit.
Sir Roger Gale, Conservative MP for North Thanet, who was one of the first to call for Cummings to be sacked, told The Guardian: "I’ve had between 700 and 800 emails, and half of those are constituents, half of those are from other people. About 85% are critical [of him], and 15% think I’m the devil incarnate.
"Not one has been computer-generated, they are all individual observations. This is not about Brexit, or a Labour party campaign, none of this is orchestrated.”
Diana Johnson, Labour MP for Hull North, said: “Other than Brexit, this is the biggest postbag I’ve had for many years. And it’s still coming in.”
Richard Fuller, Tory MP for North East Bedfordshire, wrote to constituents: “I have been struck by just how many emails I have received from constituents about the actions taken by Mr Cummings and the strength of sentiment.
“Most emails contained strong criticisms. The words used by constituents to express their feeling – ‘disgust’, ‘incensed’, ‘disgraceful’, ‘shameful’, ‘anger’ – convey clearly how deeply hurtful this revelation has been for them.
“Many constituents included personal stories of sacrifice and loss; a number sharing the searing pain of bereavement in this extraordinary period of isolation and confinement. I have read fully each of the emails sent to me.”
He added: “The explanation of this human dilemma has not been communicated in such a manner as to heal the hurt that has been felt. An apology is not always needed as a concession that you did something wrong but sometimes to show that you understand the pain to others that may have been caused.”
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