Senior British lawmakers are set to question Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday amid growing pressure to fire his closest adviser for allegedly flouting COVID-19 lockdown rules.
The parliamentary committee will quiz Johnson on the decision of his top aide, Dominic Cummings, to drive 250 miles from London to his parents' house in northeast England while he was falling ill with suspected COVID-19 -- despite stay-at-home rules that the government had imposed on the rest of the country. After days of public outrage over double standards, the government sought desperately to change the subject.
Johnson, who was himself hospitalized with COVID-19 last month, said Cummings "followed the instincts of every father and every parent." The scandal is particularly damaging because it comes as Britain is slowly beginning to lift lockdown restrictions. Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed there could be "local lockdowns" in the future as part of systems being put in place to test and trace coronavirus hot spots.
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