THERE were more questions over Dominic Cummings’s future yesterday after reports suggested he was set to stand down at the end of the year.

According to the Mail, the Prime Minister’s key aide could quit No10 within the next six months, after the UK has left the EU.

A source told the paper: “Dominic has not decided what to do. He had to delay medical treatment unrelated to Covid because of the virus. He will deal with that when the pandemic is over and then discuss things with [his wife] Mary. He will stay in his job if it seems worthwhile and [he] can improve things – otherwise he probably won’t.”

However, the BBC later reported that Cummings had told Downing Street officials that there was no plan for him to leave his post.

Reporter Allie Hodgkins-Brown tweeted: “The BBC understands the PM’s adviser Dominic Cummings told No10 officials this morning that there’s no plan for him to leave his post – following press reports he was – and he’ll decide after an operation that was delayed again in March.”

The row over the Tory svengali’s 260 mile trip to Durham, and second trip to Barnard Castle, has so far refused to die down.

On Thursday Durham Police said the family second trip potentially broke lockdown rules and would have led to police telling him to turn around had he been stopped.

Meanwhile, two Tory MSPs were mocked after they gave identical responses to constituents writing to them about Cummings.

According to the Daily Record, Lothians MSPs Jeremy Balfour and Miles Briggs replied to all enquiries with the exact same template.

Briggs wrote: “While it is a matter for the Prime Minister to determine who advises him and for how long, my own view is that rules must be applied equally and without favour.

“We have come too far together over the last two months, and with such great personal sacrifice on the part of millions of ordinary people, for anything other to be the case.”

The message concludes: “As an MSP for the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, you can be assured that my own focus will remain resolutely on the task at hand, which is to hold the Scottish Government to account in the Scottish Parliament and provide the principled and constructive opposition our country needs at this time, to help get us all through the Covid crisis.”

The only difference between the two men’s responses was that Briggs said he “fully” understood the constituents “frustration” while Balfour’s dropped the “fully”.

Despite nearly 100 of his own MPs calling for Cummings to be sacked, Boris Johnson continues to stand by his man.

The Prime Minister says he considers the matter closed. However rumours continue that his chief scientific advisers are unhappy with Cummings remaining in the post.