MPs from both sides of the political divide have been caught parroting similarly phrased statements as the major parties rolled out their reactions to the Dominic Cummings scandal.
Four Conservative MPs used identical wording as they told their constituents: “rest assured I’ve conveyed the strength of local feeling to relevant colleagues.”
The tweets were sent in reply to people who had criticised Boris Johnson’s top aide Dominic Cummings for violating the coronavirus lockdown to travel 260 miles from his London home to his parents’ property in Durham.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The identical tweets, posted within 70 minutes of each other, prompted “suspicion that they had received the same instruction from the party to make the statement”, The Times says.
Tim Farron, the MP for Westmorland & Lonsdale and former Liberal Democrat leader, called the carbon-copy phrasing “hapless amateurism”.
Labour MPs were also caught using “identikit” language on social media, deploying variations of the phrase “there’s one rule for Dominic Cummings and another for everyone else”.
Both parties’ copycat replies came at the end of a damaging long weekend for the Conservatives, during which ministers rushed to defend Cummings before all the information about his violations had been revealed by the press.
“The sight this weekend of elected ministers rushing to the defence of an unelected official was humiliating,” says The Guardian’s columnist Martin Kettle, “not just for them but for British politics.”
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
-
Is The Inbetweeners reboot a good idea?Talking Point The cult classic sitcom is set to return over a decade after its final episode – but not everyone is happy
-
Scientists want to use enhanced rock weathering to cool the EarthUnder the radar Rock dust could trap atmospheric carbon
-
Codeword: October 14, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Taking the low road: why the SNP is still standing strongTalking Point Party is on track for a fifth consecutive victory in May’s Holyrood election, despite controversies and plummeting support
-
Five policies from the Tory conferenceIn Depth Party leader Kemi Badenoch has laid out the Conservative plan for a potential future government
-
The end of ‘golden ticket’ asylum rightsThe Explainer Refugees lose automatic right to bring family over and must ‘earn’ indefinite right to remain
-
Charlie Kirk honored as ‘martyr’ at memorial rallySpeed Read At a service for the slain conservative activist, speakers included President Donald Trump and many top administration officials
-
Can the Lib Dems be a party of government again?Today's Big Question Leader Ed Davey is urged to drop the stunts and present a serious plan for the country
-
Is Andy Burnham making a bid to replace Keir Starmer?Today's Big Question Mayor of Manchester on manoeuvres but faces a number of obstacles before he can even run
-
Angela Rayner: the rise and fall of a Labour stalwartIn the Spotlight Deputy prime minister resigned after she underpaid £40,000 in stamp duty
-
The runners and riders for the Labour deputy leadershipThe Explainer Race to replace Angela Rayner likely to come down to Starmer loyalist vs. soft-left MP supported by backbenchers and unions
