JK Rowling took to Twitter to voice her frustration while watching Dominic Cummings’ press conference justifying his decision to drive 260 miles to Durham during coronavirus lockdown.
Tuning into the political strategist’s televised speech on Bank Holiday Monday (25 May), the Harry Potter author, who earlier in the day had offered to pay the salary of the person behind a civil service tweet calling Boris Johnson “arrogant and offensive”, wrote: “’The legal rules inevitably do not cover all circumstances, including those that I found myself in.’ – Dominic Cummings.”
She continued: “Your wife was ill, you thought you were infectious and you’ve got a kid. Those circumstances are not exceptional. They’re commonplace. But if this is a defence, I think I’ll pop out and nick a dog, because I quite fancy a third dog and I’ve never read a law that says JK Rowling specifically can’t steal dogs.
“‘Often answering questions doesn’t clear up confusion, it increases confusion’ is what I’ll say to the police when they want to know where I got my new labradoodle, Dominic,” she concluded.
Meanwhile, Notting Hill actor Hugh Grant sarcastically tweeted: “This surprises me, because I always thought these people would make an excellent government.”
Cummings’ claim that he drove from his parents’ farm to Castle Barnard to “test his eyesight” was the subject of much derision online, with comedian Kathy Burke ridiculing the Prime Minister’s Chief Advisor.
“Sounds lovely on the farm. I’m sure there’s lots of land to drive around to test the old eyes,” she tweeted, later joking: “Worst bank holiday film I’ve seen in yonks.”
Meanwhile, Piers Morgan insisted that the political advisor should be on his way out, writing on Tuesday morning: “Flicking around various TV & radio news channels & hearing same thing over & over again: ‘One rule for them, another for the rest of us.’ Hard to overstate how bad this Cummings scandal is for the Govt. He has to go.”
