Published 12:36 IST, May 25th 2020
'Unauthorised' tweet takes swipe at UK govt, JK Rowling wants to give person year's salary
As an 'unauthorised' tweet from UK Civil Service took a swipe at the UK govt, JK Rowling praised it and stated that she wants to give the person year's salary.
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Baffling tweets from some well-known accounts often create a stir. It’s not that uncommon for official handles of popular Twitter accounts to get ‘hacked.’ However, that was not a reason cited after the UK Civil Service account had a message for someone ‘arrogant and offensive’ and ‘truth twisters.’
The official handle of UK Civil Service tweeted, “Arrogant and offensive. Can you imagine having to work with these truth twisters?” on Sunday. Within minutes, the tweet was deleted, but not before it was retweeted and liked thousands of times.
The tweet was assumed as a swipe at the United Kingdom government because Prime Minister Boris Johnson was about to finish his daily press briefing on the handling of the COVID-19 situation. A highlight of his address on Sunday was that he defended his aide Dominic Cummings, for breaking the lockdown and travelling from London to Durham twice. This is after Cummings' presence at Downing Street earlier prompted speculation that he might resign amid heated calls for his head.
UK PM also defended his decision to travel over 260 miles to Durham to meet his ill wife and son.
“I think he followed the instincts of every father and every parent,” Johnson said.
He added, “And I do not mark him down for that.” The PM also said, “I believe that in every respect he has acted responsibly, legally and with integrity, and with the overriding aim of stopping the spread of the virus and saving lives.”
After the tweet sparked a row, the Cabinet Office called it ‘unauthorised’ and added that they would be investigating the matter.
JK Rowling, however, had a quirky take on it, quipping that she’d pay the person a year’s salary.
Here’s the post
When you find out who it was, let us know. I want to give them a year’s salary. https://t.co/D7DRlwcjty
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 24, 2020
The Harry Potter author also posted a screenshot of the deleted tweet and applauded it for the few minutes it was up for.
It wasn’t up for long, but 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/W0EheHYb2Y
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 24, 2020
Rowling had earlier lashed out the UK Government for defending Cummings and had termed it 'despicable.' The author had highlighted how people across the country were following the guidelines on the instructions of the government.
Here's the previous tweet on Sunday
Watching Johnson. This is despicable. Parents all over this country have abided by the lockdown rules, even while ill themselves. Hundreds of thousands managed toddlers while shut up inside cramped accommodation, purely for the common good AS THE GOVERNMENT TOLD THEM TO DO.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 24, 2020
12:36 IST, May 25th 2020