Dominic Cummings faced little sympathy from social media users when he revealed that he had to undergo an emergency eye operation. This comes after the former No 10 adviser caused outrage by driving to Barnard Castle to test his eyesight during the UK’s lockdown restrictions. In a selfie posted on social media, Cummings can be seen wearing an eye patch, which led many Brits to point out the irony of his situation. One user tweeted, “Dodgy eye you say? Only one thing for it. Drive to Barnard Castle!” Another user quipped, “Finally got an eye test!” Despite planning to blog about former civil service chief Sir Mark Sedwill’s hearing, Cummings had to cancel his plans due to the emergency eye operation that he underwent following a routine appointment.The entire staff at the hospital were very kind and professional, according to Mr. Cummings. Shortly after posting a photo of himself wearing an eye patch, social media users criticized him. One user commented that his excuse was three years too late. Another user suggested that he should drive to Barnard Castle. A third user advised him to get his eye tested in Barney. And a fourth user questioned why he didn’t drive himself. Last week, Mr. Johnson called Mr. Cummings a liar for his infamous trip to Barnard Castle.
The former Prime Minister claimed that he had no knowledge of his chief of staff’s trip to County Durham during the early days of the first Covid lockdown. Mr. Cummings explained that he drove to Barnard Castle on April 12, 2020, his wife’s birthday, to test his eyesight before driving back home. He had been staying at his parents’ farm for the previous two weeks. The family left London on the day Mr. Johnson tested positive for Covid, fearing that both Mr. Cummings and his wife could become ill and be unable to care for their young son. A year later, Mr. Cummings stated that they left the capital due to security threats.
The revelation of the trip during lockdown caused a major scandal, but Mr. Cummings managed to keep his job after giving an extraordinary press conference at Downing Street.Former Cabinet secretary Lord Sedwill apologized during the latest stage of the Covid inquiry for his suggestion that chickenpox-style parties could have been held for coronavirus early in the pandemic. He acknowledged making the remark but clarified that he was only using it as an analogy to explain the concept of shielding the most vulnerable while others developed immunity. Lord Sedwill expressed his apologies to the bereaved families at the inquiry for any distress caused and emphasized that he never intended for the exchanges to become public, as they were revealed by Mr. Cummings. In his testimony, Mr. Cummings stated that Lord Sedwill had advised Prime Minister Johnson on March 12, 2020, to go on television and compare the situation to the old days with chickenpox, suggesting that people would have chickenpox parties.
