Steffie Williams Roberts, the Labour parliamentary candidate for Arfon in 2019 and the Chair of the Bangor Branch of the Labour Party, has written to the Prime Minister, expressing her deep concern about the actions of Dominic Cummings and that Boris Johnson backed his key adviser amid a row over his chief aide’s travel during the UK lockdown.

The PM said at the Daily Briefing on Sunday that he believed Mr Cummings had “no alternative” but to travel 260 miles from London to the North East for childcare purposes “when both he and his wife were about to be incapacitated by coronavirus”.

“In every respect, he has acted responsibly, legally and with integrity,” Mr Johnson said.

In her letter Mrs Williams Roberts said : “I’m writing to you to express my deep concern about not only the behaviour of Mr Dominic Cummings but also the excuses you gave for his behaviour at the Downing Street Briefing on 24/05/2020 Which undermines every stay at home message that has been given since the pandemic came to our shores.

“I live in the constituency of Arfon in North Wales. A beautiful constituency which relies on the tourism industry, this pandemic has naturally, hit our communities extremely hard. Businesses big and small are suffering, people have lost their employment, their livelihoods.

“However, we remain at home here under the Welsh Government rules. We are still in lockdown. We have not yet peaked here, our new cases continue to rise daily despite every effort on people’s part to stick to the rules.

“The people of Arfon have been incredible, community spirit is at an all time high with everyone who can, making the effort to support our vulnerable people in every way. This while staying away from family and friends who do not share our address. I’d like to share with you some of their stories.

“My postman chooses to carry a bottle of disinfectant on his person, he sprays every gate and letterbox, in case he is carrying the virus. He lives alone and is struggling emotionally because he misses the conversations with the people on their doorsteps. Those he sees, he asks if they need anything and if so, he will help, not one of his clients will go without if he can help it. Like every keyworker, doing all they can to keep our communities running and helping and supporting people.

“A new grandmother was struck down by coronavirus and prayed she hadn’t see her grandchild for the last time. She was with her daughter when she gave birth before being struck down with this illness, spent just half an hour with them before parting and waits for the day she will see them again. If she’ll see them again.

“A loving wife watched her husband taken into hospital, was told he did not have coronavirus after a negative test only for him to later test positive and for him to lose his life. He was a well-respected man who the community couldn’t pay their respects to because of the lockdown. A family, like many others, who couldn’t grieve properly together because of the rules in place.

“A local NHS worker, watching as she goes from green to red zones hasn’t seen her daughters and grandchildren for 8 weeks and prays every day she won’t come down with this virus and that she hasn’t seen them for the last time.

“A mother, a care assistant, faced the prospect of having to move into her place of work to keep the residents safe, leaving behind her husband and her children to take care of the parents and grandparents of others. She thanks God every day that the virus has not yet infiltrated the walls of the home she works at and prays it will continue in that way.

“These are just some of the stories of people who are sacrificing for what they believed to be the good of the nation. Millions of people across this country are making the same and similar sacrifices.

“Dominic Cummings behaviour is inexcusable. He broke the rules, undermined the Government’s message, put his own vulnerable parents at risk.

“But Dominic Cummings believes he is above the rest of us. That the rules don’t apply to him and he can do what he likes. He is arrogant and we all know it.

“However, your excuses at the press conference has struck a chord with the nation Prime Minister. The sacrifices we have made, each and every one of us, to keep our children, parents and grandchildren safe now appears to be in vain because if it is ok for Dominic Cummings, then it’s alright for the rest of us. If Dominic Cummings is allowed to break lockdown rules and visit his parents home then surely we can too? I’m sure Prime Minister, that you’re don’t believe that the same rules shouldn’t apply to him as to us?

“We watch as the numbers continue to rise here in Arfon and the Betsi Cadwaladr health board area, and now we do it with fear that we will spike higher. Our police force is already battling with your poor ability to explain devolution. Your failure to make clear to the people of England when you started to lift lockdown, that the rules meant they couldn’t cross the border to Wales. This has meant people visiting our closed beaches and national parks which has stretched our police force already.

“Now we face having to battle not only those people, but people who feel they can justifiably visit their family members, because if Dominic Cummings can, why shouldn’t we?

“Prime Minister you won’t know what it’s like to be a daughter on Mother’s Day who couldn’t give her mother a hug fearing for her mother’s life because she knew her mother was working in a red zone. To question whether you’ve hugged your mother for the very last time because every day she risks her life to protect others. Your excuses for Dominic Cummings tell this daughter she should climb into the car and go visit her mother and give her a hug…even if she’s displaying symptoms, because hugging your mother is a daughter’s instinct after all.

“The nation is angry Prime Minister. Your excuses have caused widespread offence. If Mr Cummings was so unwell he couldn’t take care of his child, then he would not have been able to drive 260 miles. The country is outraged and rightly so. We have sacrificed so much during these last few weeks under your and your governments instructions only for you and your closest advisor to spit in our faces. You belittle the sacrifices of our keyworks, who are on the frontline, putting their lives at risk.

“We are a country in mourning, whether that be mourning the death of a loved one, mourning the loss of a life experience, mourning the loss of contact with loved ones, and we are repulsed by your request that we try to understand the concerns of a father.

“We are all someone’s child and many of the millions in this country are someone’s parents, but we do not understand because we followed the rules, we stayed at home, we muddled through, relied on community to deliver supplies when we couldn’t fetch them ourselves, we took care of our children to the very best of our abilities and made sure we did everything we could not to be a cause for the spread of this virus.

“Dominic Cummings behaviour is inexcusable but your behaviour and your excuses as the leader of this country are sickening. You need to step up, apologise for the offence caused, sack Mr Cummings and maybe, just maybe the public will be able to continue in their sacrifices for the good of this country.”