Anyone who hoped that today’s mild admonishment of Dominic Cummings by Durham Constabulary would be enough to force his departure from Downing Street will be disappointed.
In fact, even if the police had taken a stronger line and fined Mr Johnson’s principal adviser for breaking lockdown rules, he would still be safe in his job.
Ultimately Mr Cummings is accountable to one man and that man, the prime minister, has made the decision that the political cost of losing his trusted aide is greater than the political firestorm of keeping him.
And while Mr Cummings retains the trust of the prime minister everything else is just noise. In part this is due to the strange role that special advisers have within government.
Despite being enormously
