Newsnight: Emily Maitlis silent on Dominic Cummings scandal as she returns to BBC show

Emily Maitlis avoided mention of the Dominic Cummings scandal as she made her return to Newsnight on Monday.

It was her first appearance on the BBC‘s current affairs programme since she accused the prime minister’s top aide of flouting lockdown rules.

On 27 March, Mr Cummings travelled 260 miles to a property on his parents’ land in Durham at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He then made a 50-mile round-trip to Barnard Castle, allegedly to test his eyesight.

On 29 May, Durham Police released a statement in which it said Cummings might have broken lockdown regulations over that day trip, but that it would have been a “minor breach”.

Maitlis, 49, was found to have violated the corporation’s impartiality rules after she said the prime minister’s top aide had “broken the rules” in her introduction to the show last week.

“The country can see that [he broke the rules], and it’s shocked the government cannot,” Maitlis added.

Following the Cummings scandal, Maitlis did not appear as scheduled on an episode of Newsnight, saying she asked for the evening off.

The broadcaster, widely praised for her interview with the Prince Andrew last year, said she had been “overwhelmed” by support from viewers after her monologue on Cummings.

She tweeted: “Been overwhelmed by all the kindness, messages – and support on here – and I’ve probably missed much of it.

“A big thank you from us all at Newsnight.”

Maitlis returned to Newsnight on Monday, but did not mention the row during a show that focused on protests that have broken out across the US in response to the death of an unarmed black man.

George Floyd died after a white Minneapolis police officer held his knee on his neck for over eight minutes.

Additional reporting by Press Association

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