BREAK: Quite extraordinary moment in France this morning...
The homes and offices of France's health minister and director general of health have been searched by police as part of a judicial enquiry into the government's handling of the #coronavirus pandemic
A judicial enquiry was opened in France in June over the handling of the pandemic after formal complaints were lodged by civil groups and members of the public
This was followed by the Court of Justice opening an enquiry in July
The criminal investigation has a relatively limited scope and is looking at specific aspects, such as the alleged failure to put in place anti-virus protections at the workplace, to provide face masks to reduce infection, and to roll out testing to diagnose carriers of a virus
I wonder if similar enquires in other European countries, which are inevitable will have the same scope...
The politics of #coronavirus likely to play out for many years
- But also judges public either don’t care or are sympathetic to his position, he is judging mood better than journalists and MPs, hence his reference to Brexit at doorstep yesterday (1/3)
But Cummings is a disruptor, so calculation - Conservatives have 80 seat majority, no election on horizon, how can he be sacked if PM backs him
It’s the ultimate battle between journalists/commentators/MPs who he holds in low regard thinking they can push him out (2/3)
While he has power to resist - it’s a battle I’m sure he would relish
It could be all three, but if the latter weighs heavily, surely that test is unforgivable in a pandemic given that it seeks to have muddied the governments lockdown advice and subsequently public health (3/3)