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Dominic Cummings accuses the British government of having deliberately lied about the original Corona strategy
Photo: TOBY MELVILLE / REUTERS
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's ex-chief advisor Dominic Cummings accuses the government of lying about its original strategy to fight the pandemic.
In early 2020, the Johnson administration initially planned to achieve herd immunity through the spread of the coronavirus in the population by September of the year, he said in a series of tweets over the weekend.
Only after the government had been made clear from several sides that this plan would lead to disaster, this strategy was changed two weeks before the start of the first lockdown in March 2020.
Since the government later denied this, they deliberately lied.
Cummings went on to say that with "the right preparation and competent people in charge," the government could probably have avoided the initial lockdown.
Certainly, however, there would have been "no need" for the two later lockdowns.
The government denied the allegations.
When asked whether herd immunity was the original plan, Home Secretary Priti Patel told the BBC on Sunday: "Absolutely not." The current head of the Department of Health and then Vice-Chief Advisor to the Government on Medical Matters, Jenny Harries, also said: "I can categorically say that I have not been to any government meeting that proposed herd immunity as a control mechanism at this point in the pandemic."
Cummings had left his Downing Street post in December after a bitter argument among close advisors.
The Prime Minister's former close confidante has made a number of allegations against Johnson in the past few weeks.
He is due to testify next Wednesday before the House of Commons health and science committees investigating the government's pandemic response. Johnson's former confidante had already expressed his willingness in advance to provide the committee with detailed information on the alleged misconduct of the head of government. He will be available to the members of parliament "for as long as they want". He also recently threatened to reveal secret documents at the hearing.
Cummings is considered one of the strategists of Johnson's Brexit campaign in 2016, but at the same time caused controversy with his confrontational political style.
According to media reports, there should have been considerable disputes over the role of the advisor in the cabinet.
Critics, however, blame him above all for the fatal corona policy of the Johnson government.
Cummings drove across England in the middle of lockdown in the spring and left his quarantine location several times.
He couldn't explain his car journey satisfactorily.
svs / dpa / AFP