British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stands by his rule-bending strategist as lawmakers cry foul - The Washington Post

LONDON — Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a tough round of angry queries, serious skepticism and even mockery from British lawmakers on Wednesday over his continued support for his top political strategist, Dominic Cummings, who left his London home when he and his wife were stricken by the novel coronavirus to travel 260 miles to a family home.

The scandal has cost Johnson support in the polls, raised questions about fair play and created backlash over the lockdown, just when the government is trying to convince parents that it’s safe to send their children back to school.

Even tabloids that traditionally back Tory leaders have lashed into Cummings and Johnson, with the Daily Mail’s front page asking, “What Planet Are They On?”.

Critics charge that the scandal has undercut trust in the government and its public health messaging, right when it is needed most, as Johnson slowly begins to steer a tricky passage out of a months-long shutdown.

Johnson offered a careful non-apology, saying, “I know there is a great political interest in this, and I totally understand the public indignation, but . . .

During the session, Hoare warned the prime minister that the public will be “far less energetic” about obeying future restrictions as “a direct result of the activities of your senior adviser.”.

The flap over Cummings, too, comes as Johnson’s government has been defending its handling of the crisis while preparing the country for new “test, trace and treat” policies, which will involve more intrusive actions by public health trackers and government apps.

Johnson has said that Cummings acted “responsibly, legally and with integrity.” He said Cummings was just following his instincts as a parent.

In his resignation letter on Tuesday, Douglas Ross, a junior minister in the Scotland Office, said, “I have constituents who didn’t get to say goodbye to their loved ones; families who could not mourn together; people who did not visit sick relatives because they followed the guidance of the government.”.

“It’s not just a scandal in government that doesn’t bear on someone’s life; it’s really personal.”.

Will Jennings, a professor of political science at the University of Southampton, said that Cummings has been “pivotal to the Johnson project” and that Johnson doesn’t want to lose him?

And that someone has been Cummings, who in Johnson’s winning 2016 Brexit campaign “demonstrated he’s extremely capable in terms of political strategy and communications,” and who likewise was a force in the 2019 general election, which saw Johnson win a thumping majority.

Tim Bale, a professor of politics at London’s Queen Mary University, said the scandal “could be quite damaging” because it upends Johnson’s narrative that all Brits are in the same boat.

The government’s response to the crisis “relies on everybody feeling we are all in this together, and if it seems that is no longer the case, or maybe never has been the case, then I think that’s bound to rebound badly on the incumbent prime minister and his government,” Bale said.