It comes amid growing calls for his resignation over claims he broke the government's own locked down guidelines.

The prime minister is holding a Cabinet meeting and Downing Street.

Right now.

It's scheduled to be looking at further ways of easing the coronavirus locked down restrictions.

But Boris Johnson is facing a revolt from MPs within his own party as well as criticism from across the political spectrum following his decision to back his most senior on most trusted aide, Our political correspondent Jessica Parker reports.

Questions keep coming on Can't easily BE waved away.

Boris Johnson strongly backed his chief age last night, saying Dominic Cummings had acted legally with integrity.

The prime minister, appearing to consider the matter closed.

Very serious Allegations have been leveled at Dominic Cummings and his family in terms of the breaking BA rooms and therefore breaking below Dominic Cummings, a set out absolutely kid clearly and that's absolutely categorically the you know he didn't break the rules and you didn't break the law.

This is, uh, you know for prime ministers, right to be asking those questions right to be asking for those assurances.

Amid locked down, Mr Cummings traveled in late March from London to County Durham with his wife.

You had covitz symptoms and their young son to self isolate on the family farm in case they needed help with child care, then was there later, a day out 30 miles down the road at Barnard Castle, Durham's acting police and crime commissioner has requested that the facts be investigated, coming out last night to back his adviser.

I think he followed the instincts of every father on every parent, and I do not mark him down for that.

But a number of conservative MPs now want an investigation.

Others for Dominic Cummings to Ggo.

My inbox is absolutely bloated with vet, with white anger, with riel fury from constituents who across the political spectrum from across the different professions and jobs in more doors of absolutely furious waiting for developments.

It's now understood.

Mr Cummings will make a public statement later.

Take questions.

But opposition parties have been calling on the prime minister to sack him.

Boris Johnson, his political and chase the hate of the public interest and when trust in a public health message and public health at face is as important as it is right now, the consequences of that could be very serious.

Michael Carter, from Sorry Staying Home for health reasons, didn't get to see his mother before she died and says he feels insulted it as if it's the old Boys club looking after each other.

Now that's what that foot was.

It feels like and it's ah so make rules for the British public to follow and then to break them or to deceive people, which is more so.

What he's done is unacceptable as a virtual meeting today.

The cabinets looking at the next steps out of lock down as decisions are made behind this door.

Public trust A crucial commodity.

Jessica Parker, BBC News.

So, in a highly unusual step, the prime minister, senior advisor Dominic Cummings, is going to make a public statement this afternoon.

Our chief correspondent, Icky Young, is in Downing Street for us now on, what are we expecting him to say?

Well, we don't know how he's going to do this, We know is a public statement, and he will also take questions.

I think this is a really acknowledgement that things have not Bean handled well that what the prime minister did yesterday, coming out and defending his advisor actually might have made things worse.

A lot of conservative MP is concerned that people are questioning the judgment of the prime minister by clinging on to his adviser.

Now I think the anger from a conservative MP, some of them going public because they in turn, are hearing the anger from their constituents that even if Dominic Cummings didn't break the law, he undermined the government's message.

He didn't behave in the same way as millions of other people have done.

So this feels like a last on potentially very risky and dramatic way of trying to save Dominic Cummings job.

Vicky, thank you very much.

Well, Durham's acting police crime become victims Commissioner has written the forces Chief Constable calling on officers to establish whether Mr Cummings did breach the law.

Home affairs correspond.

Daniel Sanford is here with me now.

So what happens next?

Well, Steve White has asked the Chief Constable Joe Farrell to establish the facts so that, as he puts it, the people of Durham can be satisfied that the police force are continuing to do their job independent of government.

Clearly, what the force does in terms of the resources put into it is a key question now because it would be disproportionate to put huge amounts of resource since it like into a murder enquiry.

But are there simple things that can be done, like checking at NPR cameras for the movement of the car?

Talking to those witnesses who has been dominant cuts have seen Dominic Cummings, Speaking of dominant, comes himself that could be done to establish quickly the set of facts for what is, in the end, a breach of health regulations.

It's not a major crime, but also, But of course it is something that is of great concern at the moment to people right across the country, including some Tory MPs.

Eso.

That's why Steve White is quite keen that the facts, as much of the force can establish them, get established.