Wham bam Van-Tam.Professor Jonathan Van-Tam knew exactly what he was doing when he was asked by The Observer’s Toby Helm about Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s most senior adviser, who, among other things, drove 50 miles to test his eyesight during the lockdown.
England’s deputy chief medical officer could have sought refuge in the way his boss, Professor Chris Whitty, and the government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, did the other day. Leave us out of the politics, was the gist of how they swerved requests for their views.There was no such ducking of the issue from Prof Van-Tam. Instead, bluntly, he delivered a firm kick in the goolies.Yes, he didn’t refer to Cummings by name, but he made it explicit he would take on the question directly.”I am quite happy to answer it,” he volunteered.”In my opinion, the rules are clear. In my opinion, they are for the benefit of all. And in my opinion they apply to all.”Ouch.For the ninth day in a row, Dominic Cummings is still in the news.
