违反自己制定的规定，英首相顾问遭到猛烈抨击
这个故事颇有莎士比亚作品的味道。
当这种致命的疾病席卷这片土地时，众多城市、乡村的老老少少因此而丧生。这个国家的民众都按照政府模糊的命令，待在家中，并关掉了商业设施。焦躁不安，甚至有点反抗意味的英国人很快了解到，令人痛恨的居家隔离令的幕后人物是一名位高权重、由执政党钦点的顾问。在草草完成了前往中世纪英国城堡的旅行后，他发现此次出行似乎违反了自己精心策划的居家隔离令。此消息立刻引发了众怒，随后一名内阁成员辞职了，而且英国公众纷纷要求这位顾问下台。在这个已然因为疫情而陷入不妙境地的国家，一场危机中的危机正在酝酿当中。
这便是多米尼克•卡明斯的故事，他是英国首相鲍里斯•约翰逊的首席顾问。你可能还记得（或者不记得）演员本尼迪克特•康伯巴奇在脱欧电视剧中扮演的权力掮客，就是以他为原型。去年，该电视剧在英国电视台和美国HBO上映。
卡明斯被外界广泛誉为英国脱欧活动的主导者。对手将他称为约翰逊政府的“斯文加利”（小说《爵士帽》中的邪恶音乐家，用来形容具有极大吸引力和影响力的人物——译注）或“拉斯普廷”（上个世纪俄罗斯知名灵媒师——译注）。拥趸们则视其为“多才多艺的男人”，有能力打破政府的官僚主义。在前往距离伦敦北部数小时车程的巴纳德城堡之后，他因为公然违反自己在疫情期间协助起草的严格封锁令而受到了猛烈的抨击。这些批评之声有可能会导致约翰逊所在的保守党的分裂。
共有至少40名保守派国会议员要求卡明斯辞职或下台，卡洛琳•诺克斯是其中的一员。她在推文中说：“我们不可能设立一个大多数人都得遵守，却给其他人开绿灯的规则。我的邮箱中满是愤怒选民发来的邮件，我很理解他们。他们在过去9周的时间中做出了不小的牺牲。”
另一位保守派国会议员说：“这是‘听我命令，别学我行动’的经典案例。他并非不熟悉他自己帮助起草的指引。”他称卡明斯的行为“完全站不住脚”。
上周三，约翰逊在虚拟下议院当着国会议员的面，坚定地为卡明斯进行辩护。卡明斯承认自己违反了封锁令，从伦敦驱车260英里前往其父母位于英格兰东北部的住所。约翰逊称他理解全国人民的“愤怒”，但也呼吁大家在此时此刻应该既往不咎。
卡明斯称，此次出行（之后在该地区还进行了多个短途旅行）是一次紧急之旅，是为了找人看护其幼子。当时，他和妻子都出现了新冠病毒感染症状。
一位初级内阁大臣已经就此事宣告辞职，他称自己无法对那些无法看望生病家人的选民说：“他们都错了，但政府的一名高级顾问是正确的。”
即便不是最大的威胁，卡明斯丑闻也逐渐发展成为新冠疫情期间约翰逊所在党派所面临的最大威胁之一。不过在此之前，英国一直是科学家、医疗工作者的批评对象，而且保守党的政客在数个月以来因为其对疫情的处理方式而饱受争议。这些丑闻包括测试试剂和个人防护装备不足、新跟踪应用程序的使用、模糊的封锁令解除指引，以及政府所获科学建议的来源缺乏透明度。
与此同时，英格兰公共卫生机构称，英国的新冠疫情死亡率在全球排名第二，仅次于美国，截至上周三共有超过3.7万人死于这一疾病。
从“投票脱欧”到“居家隔离”
卡明斯丑闻对于英国人来说可能并不陌生。一位苏格兰卫生部长和政府高级科学顾问已经因为违反封锁令限制而被迫辞职。但对卡明斯而言，有鉴于他在近期英国历史中扮演的角色以及他（到目前为止）获得约翰逊支持（但其他人则很快会被约翰逊撵走）的能力，人们的沮丧情绪会被无限放大。他自身的回应更是无异于火上浇油。在上周末，卡明斯在后花园中发表了电视讲话，拒绝辞职，捍卫自身行为的合理性，并称“我对所做的一切并不后悔。”
这件丑闻也让素有政治易怒症的英国媒体出现了难得一见的团结盛景。《卫报》指出，卡明斯必须下台。偏保守的《每日电讯报》则将丑闻称之为“多米尼克式混乱”。
鲍里斯•约翰逊是一位上过伊顿学院和牛津大学的贵族，他一直对这一体制持反对态度。与鲍里斯一样，卡明斯的研究课题也是矛盾。作为一名受过知名私立学校教育的牛津大学古典文学研究生，他一直对英国的教育体制持反对态度，并倡导让科学和数据在国家的政治和公民服务中发挥更大的作用。他是一名资深的政治实干家，十分厌恶繁文缛节、媒体或着装要求。《金融时报》在其1月介绍卡明斯的文章中讽刺地说道：“他的衣着标准随着其职位的上升而江河日下。”这篇报道还指出，卡明斯一直称自己只是这个权力殿堂的匆匆过客，但事实上他一待便是数年的时间。
其最为臭名昭著的举措便是发起了“投票脱欧”的运动，此举帮助说服英国公众离开欧盟。这场运动利用了民众对英国一小撮精英的沮丧情绪，这群人基本上都位于伦敦，在私立学校上学，毕业于牛津或剑桥，并拥有媒体关系网。其中的众多精英正是这场运动的策划者。
这场运动的成功地帮助卡明斯获得了资深“标语司令”的声誉。据报道，他还参与了制定了最近的标语“完成脱欧”，该标语帮助保守党赢得了2019年12月的大选；以及“待在家中，保持安全，保护英国国家医疗服务体系”，这个标语在封锁令下达后的数月中出现在了全国各大广告牌上。（最近，它被“保持警惕”这一充满讽刺意味的建议所取代。）
英国于1月31日正式脱欧，进入了11个月的过渡期。英国将在这一期间与欧盟确立官方贸易协定。第四轮贸易谈判将于6月1日开始。尽管遭遇疫情，但约翰逊执掌的英国政府一再提及不会要求对此延期。
“政治分数”与公众怒火
在上周之前，卡明斯便已经是争议的来源，尤其是在他作为政府科学顾问专家委员会（又称SAGE）委员的身份公布之后更是如此，因为该委员会理应不受政治的干预。他的上述影响力给人的印象是：首相非常倚重于他，而且他的权力远超普通的政府顾问。
然而，这一印象在上周有增无减，因为在初级国会议员公开呼吁卡明斯辞职之际，多位高级部长发推文声援卡明斯，其中包括大臣瑞希•苏纳克，他在文中指出，“照顾自己的妻子和幼童是正当的，也是合乎情理的，但试图以此做文章来赚取政治分数则恰恰相反。”
上周二，每日的电视新闻媒体发布会上演了一场激烈的交锋，因为向卫生部长马特•汉考克提出的几乎所有问题都与卡明斯的行为有关，逼迫这位部长回答卡明斯是否破坏了政府有关在封锁期间待在家中的指命令。这个命令最具争议的一点在于，它明确要求民众不要访问第二处或额外的家庭住宅，或离开主要住宅进行长途旅行，而且这类行为可能会遭到罚款。
在上周二的公众新闻发布会上，汉考克曾经回答了一名牧师提出的问题，后者敦促这位部长确认，因为照顾孩子出行而遭到的罚款是否都会被撤销。汉考克也因此不得不表示，自己将与财政部进行确认是否存在这个可能性，随后又称卡明斯的情况属于“例外”。在媒体发布会结束后不久，《泰晤士报》称，政府确认称不会免除任何罚款。
尽管一些保守派国会议员将这种抗议看作是政治余兴节目，但它也明确地显示了公众以及党派中不断增长的怒火。保守党的支持率因此而首创，YouGov报道称，保守党的支持率在一周内从48%下滑至44%。YouGov开展的另一项调查显示，59%的英国人认为卡明斯违反了规定，应该辞职或被炒鱿鱼。由JL Partners开展的第三个调查发现，80%的英国人认为这位副官违反了封锁令。
但政府似乎十分急于转移公众的注意力。上周二，内阁部长罗伯特•詹里克称，英国应该关注其他问题，并对BBC表示，“是时候向前看了。”
为了摆脱这件已经失控的丑闻，古典文学粉丝约翰逊在上周三的媒体发布会上还特意找了一个词。他称，这件丑闻只不过是“政治角斗”。
不管角斗与否，但它不大可能在短时间内烟消云散。（财富中文网）
作者：Katherine Dunn
译者： Feb
这个故事颇有莎士比亚作品的味道。
当这种致命的疾病席卷这片土地时，众多城市、乡村的老老少少因此而丧生。这个国家的民众都按照政府模糊的命令，待在家中，并关掉了商业设施。焦躁不安，甚至有点反抗意味的英国人很快了解到，令人痛恨的居家隔离令的幕后人物是一名位高权重、由执政党钦点的顾问。在草草完成了前往中世纪英国城堡的旅行后，他发现此次出行似乎违反了自己精心策划的居家隔离令。此消息立刻引发了众怒，随后一名内阁成员辞职了，而且英国公众纷纷要求这位顾问下台。在这个已然因为疫情而陷入不妙境地的国家，一场危机中的危机正在酝酿当中。
这便是多米尼克•卡明斯的故事，他是英国首相鲍里斯•约翰逊的首席顾问。你可能还记得（或者不记得）演员本尼迪克特•康伯巴奇在脱欧电视剧中扮演的权力掮客，就是以他为原型。去年，该电视剧在英国电视台和美国HBO上映。
卡明斯被外界广泛誉为英国脱欧活动的主导者。对手将他称为约翰逊政府的“斯文加利”（小说《爵士帽》中的邪恶音乐家，用来形容具有极大吸引力和影响力的人物——译注）或“拉斯普廷”（上个世纪俄罗斯知名灵媒师——译注）。拥趸们则视其为“多才多艺的男人”，有能力打破政府的官僚主义。在前往距离伦敦北部数小时车程的巴纳德城堡之后，他因为公然违反自己在疫情期间协助起草的严格封锁令而受到了猛烈的抨击。这些批评之声有可能会导致约翰逊所在的保守党的分裂。
共有至少40名保守派国会议员要求卡明斯辞职或下台，卡洛琳•诺克斯是其中的一员。她在推文中说：“我们不可能设立一个大多数人都得遵守，却给其他人开绿灯的规则。我的邮箱中满是愤怒选民发来的邮件，我很理解他们。他们在过去9周的时间中做出了不小的牺牲。”
另一位保守派国会议员说：“这是‘听我命令，别学我行动’的经典案例。他并非不熟悉他自己帮助起草的指引。”他称卡明斯的行为“完全站不住脚”。
上周三，约翰逊在虚拟下议院当着国会议员的面，坚定地为卡明斯进行辩护。卡明斯承认自己违反了封锁令，从伦敦驱车260英里前往其父母位于英格兰东北部的住所。约翰逊称他理解全国人民的“愤怒”，但也呼吁大家在此时此刻应该既往不咎。
卡明斯称，此次出行（之后在该地区还进行了多个短途旅行）是一次紧急之旅，是为了找人看护其幼子。当时，他和妻子都出现了新冠病毒感染症状。
一位初级内阁大臣已经就此事宣告辞职，他称自己无法对那些无法看望生病家人的选民说：“他们都错了，但政府的一名高级顾问是正确的。”
即便不是最大的威胁，卡明斯丑闻也逐渐发展成为新冠疫情期间约翰逊所在党派所面临的最大威胁之一。不过在此之前，英国一直是科学家、医疗工作者的批评对象，而且保守党的政客在数个月以来因为其对疫情的处理方式而饱受争议。这些丑闻包括测试试剂和个人防护装备不足、新跟踪应用程序的使用、模糊的封锁令解除指引，以及政府所获科学建议的来源缺乏透明度。
与此同时，英格兰公共卫生机构称，英国的新冠疫情死亡率在全球排名第二，仅次于美国，截至上周三共有超过3.7万人死于这一疾病。
从“投票脱欧”到“居家隔离”
卡明斯丑闻对于英国人来说可能并不陌生。一位苏格兰卫生部长和政府高级科学顾问已经因为违反封锁令限制而被迫辞职。但对卡明斯而言，有鉴于他在近期英国历史中扮演的角色以及他（到目前为止）获得约翰逊支持（但其他人则很快会被约翰逊撵走）的能力，人们的沮丧情绪会被无限放大。他自身的回应更是无异于火上浇油。在上周末，卡明斯在后花园中发表了电视讲话，拒绝辞职，捍卫自身行为的合理性，并称“我对所做的一切并不后悔。”
这件丑闻也让素有政治易怒症的英国媒体出现了难得一见的团结盛景。《卫报》指出，卡明斯必须下台。偏保守的《每日电讯报》则将丑闻称之为“多米尼克式混乱”。
鲍里斯•约翰逊是一位上过伊顿学院和牛津大学的贵族，他一直对这一体制持反对态度。与鲍里斯一样，卡明斯的研究课题也是矛盾。作为一名受过知名私立学校教育的牛津大学古典文学研究生，他一直对英国的教育体制持反对态度，并倡导让科学和数据在国家的政治和公民服务中发挥更大的作用。他是一名资深的政治实干家，十分厌恶繁文缛节、媒体或着装要求。《金融时报》在其1月介绍卡明斯的文章中讽刺地说道：“他的衣着标准随着其职位的上升而江河日下。”这篇报道还指出，卡明斯一直称自己只是这个权力殿堂的匆匆过客，但事实上他一待便是数年的时间。
其最为臭名昭著的举措便是发起了“投票脱欧”的运动，此举帮助说服英国公众离开欧盟。这场运动利用了民众对英国一小撮精英的沮丧情绪，这群人基本上都位于伦敦，在私立学校上学，毕业于牛津或剑桥，并拥有媒体关系网。其中的众多精英正是这场运动的策划者。
这场运动的成功地帮助卡明斯获得了资深“标语司令”的声誉。据报道，他还参与了制定了最近的标语“完成脱欧”，该标语帮助保守党赢得了2019年12月的大选；以及“待在家中，保持安全，保护英国国家医疗服务体系”，这个标语在封锁令下达后的数月中出现在了全国各大广告牌上。（最近，它被“保持警惕”这一充满讽刺意味的建议所取代。）
英国于1月31日正式脱欧，进入了11个月的过渡期。英国将在这一期间与欧盟确立官方贸易协定。第四轮贸易谈判将于6月1日开始。尽管遭遇疫情，但约翰逊执掌的英国政府一再提及不会要求对此延期。
“政治分数”与公众怒火
在上周之前，卡明斯便已经是争议的来源，尤其是在他作为政府科学顾问专家委员会（又称SAGE）委员的身份公布之后更是如此，因为该委员会理应不受政治的干预。他的上述影响力给人的印象是：首相非常倚重于他，而且他的权力远超普通的政府顾问。
然而，这一印象在上周有增无减，因为在初级国会议员公开呼吁卡明斯辞职之际，多位高级部长发推文声援卡明斯，其中包括大臣瑞希•苏纳克，他在文中指出，“照顾自己的妻子和幼童是正当的，也是合乎情理的，但试图以此做文章来赚取政治分数则恰恰相反。”
上周二，每日的电视新闻媒体发布会上演了一场激烈的交锋，因为向卫生部长马特•汉考克提出的几乎所有问题都与卡明斯的行为有关，逼迫这位部长回答卡明斯是否破坏了政府有关在封锁期间待在家中的指命令。这个命令最具争议的一点在于，它明确要求民众不要访问第二处或额外的家庭住宅，或离开主要住宅进行长途旅行，而且这类行为可能会遭到罚款。
在上周二的公众新闻发布会上，汉考克曾经回答了一名牧师提出的问题，后者敦促这位部长确认，因为照顾孩子出行而遭到的罚款是否都会被撤销。汉考克也因此不得不表示，自己将与财政部进行确认是否存在这个可能性，随后又称卡明斯的情况属于“例外”。在媒体发布会结束后不久，《泰晤士报》称，政府确认称不会免除任何罚款。
尽管一些保守派国会议员将这种抗议看作是政治余兴节目，但它也明确地显示了公众以及党派中不断增长的怒火。保守党的支持率因此而首创，YouGov报道称，保守党的支持率在一周内从48%下滑至44%。YouGov开展的另一项调查显示，59%的英国人认为卡明斯违反了规定，应该辞职或被炒鱿鱼。由JL Partners开展的第三个调查发现，80%的英国人认为这位副官违反了封锁令。
但政府似乎十分急于转移公众的注意力。上周二，内阁部长罗伯特•詹里克称，英国应该关注其他问题，并对BBC表示，“是时候向前看了。”
为了摆脱这件已经失控的丑闻，古典文学粉丝约翰逊在上周三的媒体发布会上还特意找了一个词。他称，这件丑闻只不过是“政治角斗”。
不管角斗与否，但它不大可能在短时间内烟消云散。（财富中文网）
作者：Katherine Dunn
译者： Feb
The story sounds like something out of a lesser Shakespeare work.
A deadly disease haunts the land, killing young and old from city to city, village to village. The country folk lock down indoors, and close their businesses, all on ambiguous orders from the government. Restless, and even a bit rebellious, Britons soon learn that the man responsible for the hated lockdown orders is a high-powered, unelected advisor to the ruling party. He's found out after making an ill-conceived trip to a medieval English castle, a drive that seems to flout his own carefully crafted stay-at-home orders. Cue widespread indignation. A cabinet member resigns. The citizenry want him out. A crisis-inside-a-crisis brews for a country that was already having a bad pandemic.
This is the story of Dominic Cummings, British prime minister Boris Johnson's chief advisor. You might—or maybe you don't—remember him as the power broker portrayed by actor Benedict Cumberbatch in the Brexit TV drama that aired in both the U.K. and on HBO in the U.S. last year.
Cummings is the man widely credited with leading the U.K.'s campaign to leave the EU. Enemies refer to him as the "Svengali" or "Rasputin" of Johnson's government; proponents see him as a "Renaissance man" capable of cutting through the bureaucracy of government. Following his trip to Barnard Castle, hours north of London, he faces a barrage of criticism that threatens to split Johnson's Conservative Party over his apparent violations of the strict lockdown rules that he himself helped draft at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak.
"There cannot be one rule for most of us and wriggle room for others. My inbox is rammed with very angry constituents and I do not blame them," tweeted Conservative MP Caroline Nokes, one of at least 40 Conservative MPs who've called for Cummings to resign or be fired. "They have made difficult sacrifices over the course of the last 9 weeks."
"It is a classic case of 'do as I say, not as I do'—and it is not as if he was unfamiliar with guidance he himself helped draw up," said another Conservative MP, who called Cummings' actions "utterly indefensible."
On last Wednesday, Johnson faced Members of Parliament in a virtual House of Commons over his staunch defense of Cummings, who has admitted to breaching lockdown to drive 260 miles from London to his parents' house in the Northeast of England. Johnson said he understood the nation's "indignation," but said it was time everyone moved on.
Cummings said the drive, which was later followed by other short trips in the region, was an emergency trip to get backup childcare for his young son at time when both he and his wife had COVID-19 symptoms.
One junior cabinet minister has already resigned over the debacle, saying he could not tell constituents, who had been unable to visit sick family, that "they were all wrong, and one senior advisor to the government was right."
The Dominic Cummings scandal is shaping up to be one of the largest—if not the largest—threat to Johnson's party amid the COVID-19 pandemic, even as the U.K. has faced a barrage of criticism from scientists, healthcare workers, and even Conservative party politicians for months over a basket of controversies around its handling of the outbreak. Those scandals have ranged from insufficient testing efforts and PPE, the usability of a new tracing app, unclear guidance on the easing of the lockdown, and a lack of transparency over the source of scientific advice to the government.
Meanwhile, the U.K. has the highest death toll in the world after the U.S., with more than 37,000 people dead as of last Wednesday, according to Public Health England.
From "Vote Leave" to "Stay Home"
The Cummings scandal may seem familiar to Britons. A Scottish health minister and a senior scientific advisor to the government had already been forced to resign for breaking lockdown restrictions. But when it comes to Cummings, those frustrations are turbo-charged, both due to his role in recent British history and his ability (so far) to get the backing of Johnson where others have been quickly booted. His own response has only added to the fire. On the last weekend, Cummings gave a televised address from his back garden, refusing to resign, defending his actions as reasonable, and stating, "I do not regret what I did."
The scandal has also represented a rare moment of unity for Britain’s politically fractious press. The Guardian says he must go. The conservative-learning Telegraph has labeled the mess “Domnishambles.”
Like Boris Johnson—an Eton and Oxford educated aristocrat who has railed against the establishment—Cummings is a study in contradictions. An Oxford classics graduate who attended an elite private school, he has railed against British education and pushed for science and data to take an ever-larger role in the country's politics and civil service. He is a long-time political operative with little patience for formalities, the media, or dress codes: "His sartorial standards have deteriorated the closer he has got to the centre of power," drily notes a Financial Times profile from January. The same profile reports he has consistently claimed he is only passing through the halls of power, while in fact staying for years.
He is most notorious for spearheading the "Vote Leave" campaign, which helped convince the British public to leave the EU—a campaign which weaponized frustration at the country's small cohort of elites, a largely London-based, privately educated, Oxbridge graduate club with media connections. It was orchestrated by many of those very elites.
The success of that campaign helped launch Cummings' reputation as a savvy sloganeer-in-chief. He reportedly had a hand in the recent slogans "Get Brexit Done," which helped the Conservatives win the December 2019 election, and also the recent "Stay Home, Stay Safe, Protect the NHS", which has been affixed billboards across the country throughout the multi month lockdown. (It was recently replaced with the much-mocked advice to "Stay Alert.")
The U.K. officially left the EU on January 31, entering an 11-month transition period to agree to an official trade deal with the EU. The fourth round of trade talks will begin on June 1, and despite the pandemic Johnson's government has repeatedly ruled out requesting an extension period.
"Political points" and public outrage
Cummings was a source of controversy even before last weekend, particularly after it was revealed he was on the government's scientific advisory panel, known as SAGE, which is supposed to be free from political interference. His influence has collectively produced an impression that the Prime Minister is deeply dependent on him, and that he has power far beyond a typical government advisor.
That impression was only strengthened last week, as junior MPs publicly called for Cummings to resign, and senior ministers tweeted statements of support for Cummings, including Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who tweeted that "Taking care of your wife and young child is justifiable and reasonable, trying to score political points over it isn't."
On last Tuesday, a daily televised press conference featured a series of tense exchanges as nearly every question directed at Health Secretary Matt Hancock focused on Cummings' actions, pressing the minister to state whether the advisor had undermined the government's message to stay home during the lockdown. Among the most controversial of orders are the explicit instruction not to visit second or additional homes, or to travel long distances away from a primary residence, a fine-able offense.
At one point on last Tuesday's public briefing, Hancock took a question from a priest who pushed the minister to confirm that any fines given due to travel for childcare reasons would be revoked. That prompted Hancock to say he would check with the Treasury if this was a possibility, before adding that Cummings' circumstances were "exceptional." Shortly after the press conference, the government confirmed that no fees would be waived, The Times reported.
While some conservative MPs dismissed the outcry as a political sideshow, there were clear signs of growing outrage among the public, across party lines. The party's approval rating has taken a hit, with YouGov reporting that the party's approval rating had fallen to 44% from 48% in a single week. Another survey by YouGov found that 59% of Britons believe Cummings broke the rules and should resign or be fired. A third poll, by JL Partners, found 80% believe the aide broke lockdown rules.
But the government appears to be anxious to move the public's attention. On last Tuesday, cabinet minister Robert Jenrick said the country had other issues to focus on, and told the BBC it was "time to move on."
At last Wednesday's press conference, Johnson, a fan of the classics, searched for a term to dismiss the matter out of hand. The scandal, he said, was little more than "political ding dong."
Ding dong or not, it's unlikely to blow over any time soon.
