Boris Johnson asked scientists if people could cure Covid-19 by blowing a hairdryer up their nose, the pandemic inquiry has heard.
Mr Johnson, the Prime Minister at the outbreak of Covid in early 2020, shared a video with advisers on WhatsApp to show the dubious technique.Dominic Cummings, a top adviser at the time who has become an outspoken critic of Mr Johnson, accused the former PM of misinformation.Mr Cummings said in a written statement: "A low point was when he circulated a video of a guy blowing a special hair dryer up his nose ‘to kill Covid’ and asked the CSA and CMO what they thought".
"Unfortunately his approach was the worst of all words - he would depress everybody with his Clouseau analogy, by implication offend officials many of whom had made tremendous efforts in public service, but then swerve real action to solve the problems. This encouraged despair, anger and leaks from all sides to pressure ‘the trolley’."Mr Cummings said that in autumn 2020 the Prime Minister asked him to create a "dead cat" story to distract from Covid - and he refused.
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