Brexiteer claims Labour politician is to blame for lockdown rules being ignored

Bridgen, a local MP in Leicestershire where there is now a local lockdown in place, said that the mayor of the city was responsible for the lockdown being ignored by people there.

Soulsby had criticised the government for failing to provide clear messaging on how to deal with a second spike in cases in the city.

But the Tory MP told Sky: ‘Less than a fortnight ago the Labour mayor Sir Peter Soulsby admitted, when he was caught, that multiple times himself had broken the lockdown.

‘That was well publicized in the local press and I’m sure that’s compounded the feeling of the people of this alright to break the lockdown, and now we’ve got a situation where there’s a huge spike of infections.

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‘Sir Peter Soulsby really should stand down, he’s ignored the lockdown rules himself and broken the rules repeatedly’.

Soulsby apologised and admitted making a ‘very significant error of judgement’ when at the end of April he visited his partner for three days when she fell ill and then helped with some DIY tasks during a stay.

But Bridgen’s tone is in contrast to the defence he made of Cummings, branding the media interest a ‘media witch-hunt’.

He told Newsnight that Cummings is ‘a dedicated public servant in a crucial role, a critical worker during a crisis where he is at the centre deciding government policy’.

‘Had we replaced that critical worker Dominic Cummings with a doctor returning to a frontline hospital 260 miles away we wouldn’t be having this conversation today’.