The UK government has been accused of being “arrogant and offensive” and “truth twisters” in a tweet on the official Twitter account for the UK Civil Service, which was retweeted 32,000 times before being deleted.
The tweet, which appears to reference Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s defense of top aide, Dominic Cummings, at Sunday’s conference, was deleted in less than twelve minutes.
When questioned regarding Cummings' 260 mile trip to County Durham during the peak of the lockdown, Johnson said he had “acted responsibly, legally and with integrity”.
Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Starmer tweeted, “This was a test of the Prime Minister and he has failed it.
“It is an insult to sacrifices made by the British people that Boris Johnson has chosen to take no action against Dominic Cummings.
“The public will be forgiven for thinking there is one rule for the Prime Minister’s closest adviser and another for the British people.
“The Prime Minister’s actions have undermined confidence in his own public health message at this crucial time. who has been vocal in his criticism of Mr Cummings today, said the Government’s response was a “failure of leadership”.
Ian Blackford, Westminster leader for the SNP said the government’s response was a “failure of leadership”.
He tweeted, “Boris Johnson told us to stay at home and to isolate if we had Covid-19. There was no caveat that this does not apply to Dominic Cummings.
“By supporting Cummings at his press conference Boris Johnson displays a failure of leadership and undermines his own public health messages.”
Cummings' claims that he had “followed the instincts of every father” were brought under scrutiny by Labour MP Jess Phillips who asserted “the instincts of most other fathers in the country was to look after their partner and children at home”.
The Cabinet Office has confirmed that an “unauthorized tweet” had been posted “on a government channel” on Sunday evening and that they are investigating the matter.
Author JK Rowling responded, “When you find out who it was, let us know. I want to give them a year’s salary.”