UK politics news – live: Government comes out in full support for Dominic Cummings' 500-mile lockdown round trip amid calls for urgent inquiry and his resignation

Boris Johnson is under increasing pressure to sack his most senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, after it emerged the top aide apparently flouted lockdown rules while suffering from suspected coronavirus.

Police approached Mr Cummings after he and his family travelled to Durham at the end of March to stay at a property owned by his parents, despite government orders for people to stay at home.

The revelation has led to calls for No 10 to remove Mr Cummings, following the resignation earlier this month of Neil Ferguson, a key scientific adviser who also broke government social distancing rules.

It comes as a new poll suggests Mr Johnson's support - which peaked at the height of the initial wave of Covid-19 deaths - has begun to slide.

Follow all the latest with The Independent in what is likely to be a testing weekend for Downing Street.

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