AN ISLE of Wight resident who couldn't attend her own mother's funeral has been incensed by the conduct of prime minister Boris Johnson's chief adviser, Dominic Cummings.

In early April, a member of Joanna Minchin's family developed symptoms of coronavirus.

The family dutifully followed the spirit of the guidelines regarding Covid-19 and funerals, and made the decision not to attend Joanna's mother Shirley Laird’s funeral.

"This was a very painful decision," said Joanna.

"We could have pretended there weren’t any symptoms, or we could have covered the family member up and attended, but we didn’t.

"And so, I am incensed to watch Boris Johnson defend Dominic Cummings for his attitude and behaviour back in March and April.

"It goes against this war time attitude of digging deep and doing what’s best for the country, which millions of us have done.

"At a time when the country needs to pull together, these two are doing an incredible amount of damage.

"Before, we got indignant when the Scottish health commissioner went to her second home ­— she resigned.

"We got indignant when the science advisor had a lover visit him ­— he confessed and resigned.

"And now, we get indignant when Dominic Cummings behaves as he does, and instead of keeping us onside, admitting he did wrong and resigning, he stays put and has the backing of the PM and our MP.

"May I ask, who is running this country?

"Is it Boris Johnson or is it Dominic Cummings?"

Mr Cummings maintains he acted reasonably and legally after driving 260 miles from his home to Durham during lockdown ­— after prime minister Boris Johnson had told the public to stay at home.