A BRIEFING by UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock was branded “farcical” last night after he insisted Dominic Cummings did not break lockdown rules – despite the fact he clearly did.

Speaking at the daily Downing Street update, Hancock said the Prime Minister’s chief aide had acted “within the guidelines” but he could “understand why reasonable people can take a different view”.

The SNP described it as “a false information campaign that would make the Kremlin blush”.

Hancock appeared tetchy during the question and answer session, as he faced a number of questions over the activities of Boris Johnson’s right-hand man.

Over the weekend it was reported that Cummings had driven his wife, who was displaying symptoms of coronavirus, and son 264 miles from London to Durham at the start of the lockdown.

He argued that the stay-at-home guidelines allowed him to travel to be near family as he was trying to arrange emergency childcare.

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However, he was also spotted two weeks later at Barnard Castle, some 30 miles away from his father’s farm.

At an extraordinary press conference on Monday, Cummings claimed this latter trip was a “test drive” because his wife was concerned that his eyes had been blighted by Covid-19 and might not be ready for the drive home.

When pressed by reporters on whether Cummings’s continued place at Boris Johnson’s side would undermine public confidence, Hancock said: “My view is that what he did was within the guidelines. I can understand why reasonable people can take a different view.

“But my judgment, which is the same as the Prime Minister’s judgment, is that what Mr Cummings did was within the guidelines.

“After all, the guidelines allow for exceptional circumstances, particularly with regard to childcare. And we’ve stated before that if you’re unable to look after a small child that is an exceptional circumstance.”

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The SNP’s deputy Westminster leader Kirsty Blackman said the Tory Government had now “blown all credibility by falsely claiming Dominic Cummings didn’t break the rules”.

“There is indisputable evidence he did,” she said. “This is a false information campaign that would make the Kremlin blush. It is designed to gaslight the public into thinking we are too stupid to understand the truth.

“We’ve all been obeying these rules for months while the Prime Minister’s most senior adviser has openly flouted them – and has shown no contrition whatsoever.

“Now, staggeringly, the Tory Health Secretary is attempting to rewrite the rules to suit Mr Cummings – it’s farcical and no-one is taking the government seriously. This isn’t ‘Dom’s Law’ – there cannot be one rule for the Tory elite and another for the rest of us.”

During the briefing, Hancock also appeared to hint that penalty fines which may have been issued to families caught travelling could be reviewed if their journey was for childcare reasons.

The Health Secretary was confronted on the issue by Martin, a vicar from Brighton, who asked him if the Government would now “review all penalty fines imposed on families travelling for childcare purposes during lockdown”.

Hancock replied: “That is a very good question and we do understand the impact and the need for making sure that children get adequate childcare. That is one of the significant concerns that we have had all the way through this.”

He said he would “take away that question” and speak to Treasury colleagues.