Published 12:45 IST, May 25th 2020
'Clear demonstration of contempt from a sitting PM,' says JK Rowling over Cummings row
Best-selling British author JK Rowling on Monday slammed UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for defending top aide Dominic Cummings for breaching lockdown rules
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Best-selling British author JK Rowling on Monday slammed UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for defending top aide Dominic Cummings for breaching nationwide lockdown rules saying that this was a 'clear demonstration of contempt' from a sitting Prime Minister. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday defied pressure from his own party and the public and backed Cummings after the latter travelled over 400 km to his parents’ house to ensure the safety of his four-year-old son since both he and his wife showed COVID-19 positive symptoms.
JK Rowling lashed out at both the Prime Minister and his advisor saying, "Grieving families have been split, funerals have been unattended, the dying have been forced to say their farewells via iPads, because people obeyed the rules to protect the NHS & save lives, and Johnson stands there defending Cummings."
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
This ‘you can bend the rules if you have particular childcare issues’ defence: in Cummings’ case, that was preferring not to look after his own kid. Single parents have been on lockdown for weeks. Nurses have isolated from their own families to protect them.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 24, 2020
I can’t remember a clearer demonstration of contempt for the people from a sitting Prime Minister. Johnson might as well have shambled into shot, given us all the finger and walked off again.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 24, 2020
Dominic Cummings' trip caused a nationwide outcry with UK’s main opposition party, the Labour Party, calling for an urgent investigation into the matter. Boris Johnson had rejected calls of sacking Cummings saying, "I've concluded that in travelling to find the right kind of childcare at the moment when both he and his wife were about to be incapacitated by Coronavirus, and when he had no alternative, I think he followed the instincts of every father and every parent."
Cummings has been a highly controversial figure in British politics since masterminding the successful 2016 Brexit campaign alongside Johnson.
(With Agency Inputs)
12:45 IST, May 25th 2020