British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was accused Wednesday by his former adviser Dominic Cummings of having delayed taking the measure of the Covid-19 pandemic, hence a "
disastrous
"
management
of the crisis on the part of the government.
Read also: Brexit mastermind Dominic Cummings leaves his post as advisor to the Prime Minister
High administration unprepared and blind in the face of the surge in the number of cases, Downing Street occupied by the anger of the companion of Boris Johnson against an article on their dog, the Minister of Health accused of lies ... A marathon hearing before a parliamentary committee, this controversial 49-year-old political strategist painted a distressing picture of power in the weeks following the onset of the coronavirus in early 2020.
"
The truth is that ministers, senior officials and advisers like me have disastrously failed to live up to what the public expects from their government during a crisis like this,
" the former adviser said. , taking his share of responsibility and regretting not having "
raised the alarm signal
" earlier.
According to him, the Prime Minister saw the Covid-19 as a “
story to scare oneself
”, a “
swine flu
”.
Dominic Cummings in this regard suggested that Boris Johnson had considered being infected live on television to show that there was "
nothing to fear
".
Until March 2020, before being himself severely affected by the virus, the head of government believed that the real risk was above all economic rather than health, he added, judging that, "
obviously
", The United Kingdom should have confined itself from the first week of March 2020, fifteen days before this was actually done, on the 23rd.
Johnson assumes
Questioned in Parliament on these accusations, the Prime Minister declared to take "
full responsibility
" for the management of the pandemic, describing this crisis as "
one of the most difficult
" crossed by the United Kingdom for a long time and affirming that he had always followed the advice of scientists.
Six months after his departure against a backdrop of internal struggles, Dominic Cummings, the mastermind of the victorious Brexit campaign in 2016 and the architect of Boris Johnson's brilliant victory in the legislative elections of December 2019, is now ruthless towards the latter. .
To read also: Brexit: "Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings are convinced that the United Kingdom will gain"
But the most virulent attacks of the former adviser were directed against the Minister of Health Matt Hancock, who in his eyes should have been "
fired
" for "
at least 15, 20
" reasons, "in
particular for having lied to many occasions, meeting after meeting
”, but also“
publicly
”, regarding the procurement of protective equipment for health workers. According to Boris Johnson's spokesperson, the head of government places all his trust in his Minister of Health.
In front of the deputies, Dominic Cummings also affirmed that, in spite of the denials of this one, the British government initially aimed for "
collective immunity
", an objective considered then "
inevitable
" consisting in letting the major part of the population develop a resistance after contracting the disease.
According to him, this approach was not abandoned until early March 2020, once Downing Street warned that it would lead to "
disaster
".
Low trust score
Widely criticized for his procrastination since the start of the pandemic, Boris Johnson is currently riding the success of the vaccination campaign.
In just six months, it has given a first dose to more than 72% of adults in the country most bereaved by the pandemic in Europe, with nearly 128,000 deaths.
To read also: Dominic Cummings, the "damned soul" of Boris Johnson at the heart of the crisis
And the scope of Dominic Cummings' attacks in public opinion may remain limited for Boris Johnson.
According to a YouGov poll published in The Times on Saturday, only 14% of voters trust him to tell the truth, compared to 38% for the prime minister.
For many Britons, the name of Dominic Cummings evokes his trip with his family last year in full confinement and the press conference in the Rose Garden of Downing Street to explain in particular a trip to a castle to test his view.
During his hearing, he acknowledged the "
major disaster
" that this affair had constituted, which had caused confusion in the government's communication.