PM encouraged media attacks on junior civil servants
(EPA)
Dominic Cummings has branded Boris Johnson a “sociopathic narcissist” after accusing him of encouraging attacks on junior civil servants over the Partygate scandal to protect himself and his wife, Carrie.
In his latest blog post, the prime minister’s former senior aide claims senior officials had “turned a blind eye” to Mr Johnson’s behaviour.
His latest claims come after fixed penalty notices were issued to staff who broke lockdown rules.
On Friday, Downing Street officials received an email saying they were being fined £50 for attending parties, just days after the Met Police announced they were handing out the notices.
According to The Telegraph, a leaving do for a Downing Street private secretary was the first party where attendees have received fines.
Dominic Cummings accuses PM of encouraging media attacks on junior staff over ‘partygate’
Days after officials at Downing Street were issued fines in relation to the “Partygate” scandal, Dominic Cummings has claimed that the prime minister encouraged media attacks on junior staff to protect him and his wife, Carrie’s, reputation.
In an excerpt of his latest blog post shared on Twitter, Mr Cummings said: “It is deeply, deeply contemptible that not just the PM but senior civil servants have allowed such people to have their reputations attacked in order to protect the sociopathic narcissist squatting in the No 10 flat.
“Not just ‘allowed’ – everybody at the centre of events also knows that the PM encouraged the media attacks on junior officials in order to divert the lobby’s attention from him and Carrie breaking the law. Some very senior officials have turned a blind eye.”
Aisha Rimi3 April 2022 08:29
Kwarteng: Community consent must lead any decision on fracking or onshore wind
Any decision on the role of fracking and onshore wind in the Government’s energy strategy will be made with a “large measure of local consent”, the Business Secretary has said.
Speaking ahead of the expected release of the strategy on Thursday, Kwasi Kwarteng told the Sunday Telegraph that local opposition to either option will be taken into account.
“The thing with onshore wind and with fracking is that it has to be community consent,” he said.
“We don’t live in a totalitarian country where the Government, the man or woman in Whitehall, can say ‘Right, we’re going to do this’, without some large measure of consent from local communities. And in both of those technologies, frankly, there has been considerable local opposition.
“That doesn’t mean to say we’re shutting the door on both, but it does mean that any movement has to have a large measure of local consent.”
He added that, while he would be comfortable living next to a set of wind turbines, that would not overrule any local dissent.
“It’s not up to me, it doesn’t matter what I think,” he said.
“If there’s a plan in a particular community, it’s what they think that matters. It’s not my aesthetic preference that’s going to determine it.”
Aisha Rimi3 April 2022 08:06
