After a 30-minute delay, Dominic Cummings began his press conference by apologising for being late.

"I know that millions of people have been suffering and thousands have died," he said. "In retrospect, I should have made this statement earlier."

Cummings then proceeded to explain the chronology of events that began on the 26th March, when his wife told him that she had symptoms while he was working at 10 Downing Street.

"I did not ask the prime minister about the decision, he was ill himself and he had huge problems to deal with," he stated. "I thought that I would speak to him when the situation clarified in the coming days."

Cummings acknowledged that "arguably this was a mistake".

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Cummings says that he and his wife "agreed we should go for a short drive" to see if he could manage it, considering that he was "hoping to return to work the following week."

He said that the pair "ended up on outskirts of Barnard Castle" but denies they "walked around the town". However, when he "felt a bit sick", they walked "10 or 15 minutes" from the car and found somewhere to sit.

Cummings continued that driving to the "isolated cottage" in County Durham, which he says does not have neighbours in the "normal sense", was the "best thing to do".

Cummings stands accused of breaching social distancing rules after travelling from London to Durham with his wife and son to stay with his parents at the end of March, a week after the lockdown was imposed. He has been backed by Johnson, who in a press conference held yesterday, said that his advisor had "acted responsibly, legally and with integrity" and that "any parent would frankly understand what he did".

BREAKING: Dominic Cummings gives public statement, saying 'I did not ask the PM'