Irate James O'Brien caller: Boris Johnson "kicked the country in the teeth" by supporting Cummings
25 May 2020, 13:40
This furious caller said Boris Johnson's defence of Dominic Cummings is undermining the lives of the entire UK.
Gary called James O'Brien from Calais and began by telling LBC that he hasn't seen his two London-based daughters and grandson since March because of the coronavirus lockdown.
Amid the chaos surrounding Dominic Cummings allegedly flouting his own lockdown rules, Boris Johnson last night stood by his chief adviser and insisted that Mr Cummings didn't break lockdown rules. Gary told James that it feels like the Prime Minister has "kicked the country in the teeth and he's asking the country to pick the teeth up as well."
He went on to tell James that one of his daughters is an ITU nurse in a children's ward and so he has a unique view of how the pandemic is affecting the NHS. He revealed that staff in the NHS are "on the front line with PPE dating 2012" and argued that when workers are met with such dangerous conditions "it's absolutely shocking" that Boris Johnson has sided with someone that potentially put the lives of people at risk by moving 260 miles across the UK with someone suffering from Covid-19.
Gary told James it is disgraceful to see the PM's support for Mr Cummings "with all the sacrifices people have made" in terms of missing funerals, weddings and spending months without seeing loved ones for respect for the rules. He revealed through his daughter who works in the NHS that following the latest scandal staff in the NHS aren't debating whether or not to quit, but the conversation has changed to when they will leave.
A defeated Gary said to James that the government have "ground their faces in the dirt" and NHS staff feel betrayed by Boris Johnson, let alone the millions of Brits who have voiced their outrage over the weekend.
After the caller suspected that Dominic Cummings is only remaining on as chief advisor for having damning information on the PM, James argued that "it's more likely that his skills are integral for Boris Johnson's survival" and that without Mr Cummings, the PM would not be able to lead the country.
James went on to point out his outrage at "the line about any father would have done what they did" that Boris Johnson added into his speech on Sunday, showing his anger at the suggestion that if a parent didn't break lockdown rules "then they don't love their family as much as Dominic Cummings does."
Concluding that Mr Cummings' strategy of redemption is his own making, James imagined that if any Conservative cabinet member was unsure about the strategy "Dominic Cummings reminds them what he has forced the British public to swallow over the last five years."
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