Boris Johnson Asks U.K. to ‘Move On’ from Aide Lockdown Row
Boris Johnson appealed to the U.K. to “move on” from the controversy over claims that his top adviser broke lockdown rules.
(Bloomberg) -- Boris Johnson appealed to the U.K. to “move on” from the controversy over claims that his top adviser broke lockdown rules, as the prime minister tried to fight off a growing revolt from within his own party.
Johnson said he was “sorry” for the “pain” and “anguish” the public had suffered since March, when he ordered sweeping restrictions on individual freedoms during the coronavirus pandemic.
But he refused to go into details of the furor involving his chief strategist Dominic Cummings, who has faced mounting public anger over his decision to travel 260 miles to seek childcare support from family at a time when the country was in lockdown. Johnson dismissed calls for a government investigation into his aide’s actions.
The row has dominated British politics and public discussions for the past five days and has already cost the government a political price, with Johnson’s poll ratings tumbling. If the prime minister cannot close down the argument over Cummings’ actions soon, many Tories fear Johnson risks causing permanent damage to the reputation of his government.
“I am sorry for the pain, as I’ve said, the anguish and the heartbreak of so many people in this country,” the premier said under questioning from a parliamentary committee on Wednesday. “What we need to do now as politicians, as leaders, if we possibly can, is to set aside this row -- because I’m afraid a lot of the allegations turned out to be totally false -- and to move on.”
Political Pain
The Cummings controversy heaps more pressure onto Johnson’s administration, which has spent the past two months battling to get control over the virus and the public narrative over how it handled the crisis. The U.K. has the highest death toll in Europe with more than 37,000 Covid-19 patients having lost their lives.
After two months of lockdown, the premier is now seeking to ease the restrictions in the days and weeks ahead and get the economy firing again, though that also contains perils as companies face collapse when government support is withdrawn.
Earlier Johnson was given a direct warning of the scale of the revolt among his own Conservative party’s members of Parliament after he decided not to fire Cummings.
Graham Brady, the chair of the party’s 1922 Committee of rank-and-file members of Parliament, held talks with Johnson and set out the full range of views of his colleagues, according to a person familiar with the situation.
So far around 40 Tories have publicly demanded that Cummings lose his job after confirming that he drove his family 260 miles to his parents’ home after his wife began to develop virus symptoms, in an attempt to secure childcare for his son.
Public Fury
One minister quit the government in protest, saying it was not possible to defend Cummings in public, while Johnson and other ministers have said they understand the widespread fury over the adviser’s actions.
Cummings has denied the central charge of hypocrisy -- that he broke his own government’s rules -- arguing that there’s an exemption for people who need to take steps to care for their children.
During the committee session in Parliament, Johnson faced a barrage of highly critical questions over his adviser from MPs, including Tories Bernard Jenkin and Simon Hoare. Speaking to the committee, the premier also said:
- The U.K.’s test and trace program to contain the virus will be rolled out from Thursday
- A full coronavirus economic recovery plan is being written and could be presented to Parliament before the House of Commons breaks for summer recess
- He wants to keep taxes “as low as we possibly can” but declined to give details of future fiscal policy
- The government is committed to its manifesto pledges to boost infrastructure, policing and the health service
- He wants to keep air travel rules “as generous as we can” while maintaining a “sensible quarantine scheme,” saying so-called air bridges may be possible with the agreement of other countries
- The hospitality industry may be able to reopen sooner than he originally thought, while observing social distancing rules.
Meanwhile, Dido Harding, who is overseeing the NHS Test and Trace Service, said there is “huge public support to do the right thing” ahead of the launch of the project Thursday. The measures are designed to move Britain from a model of national lockdown to individual isolation where there are flare-ups of the disease.
In a call with reporters, she dismissed concerns that people will refuse to isolate themselves when officials tell them to because of Cummings’ behavior.
“Our staff will be saying, ‘This isn’t about Dominic Cummings, this is about advice I am giving you,’” Harding said, when questioned how the 25,000 contact-tracers involved in the program would deal with the issue. “This is about how 60 million of us behave, not one person.”
She also said that the scheme would work well even without initially having the coronavirus contact-tracing app.
“I view the app as the cherry on the cake, not the cake itself,” Harding said.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government would force people by law to stay at home, if the public refuses to comply with test and trace service officials’ advice to isolate for two weeks.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.