J.K. Rowling has pledged to pay a year's wage to the rogue civil servant who sent a tweet, critical of the government, from an official account.
The Harry Potter writer made the offer after an official used the Civil Service account to share a post that appeared to call the government 'truth twisters' following the Prime Minister's appearance at the daily coronavirus briefing.
The tweet read: "Arrogant and offensive. Can you imagine having to work with these truth twisters?"
Advert
Shortly after the tweet was taken down, Rowling took to social media to offer her support for the person behind it.
She wrote: "When you find out who it was, let us know. I want to give them a year's salary."
The government last night announced that it had been made aware of the social media breach and that a full investigation had been launched to find out just what had happened.
In a tweet, the Cabinet Office said: "An unauthorised tweet was posted on a government channel this evening. The post has been removed and we are investigating the matter."
Advert
The unauthorised tweet was shared just moments after Boris Johnson announced he was standing by under-fire advisor Dominic Cummings, despite calls for him to resign after it was revealed he had travelled over 250 miles from London to Durham during lockdown.
Cummings had claimed he and his wife had contracted coronavirus and were unable to care for their young child, so made the trip to receive support from family.
Over the weekend, new reports were released that claimed Cummings made a second trip to Durham on 19 April, just a few days after he had been spotted back down in London, having recovered from the virus.
However, Mr Johnson and his top advisor have both denied these new allegations.
Advert
During the briefing, Mr Johnson said: "It is because I take this matter so seriously, and it is so serious, that I can tell you today that I've had extensive face-to-face conversations with Dominic Cummings.
"And I've concluded that in travelling to find the right kind of childcare, at the moment when he and his wife were about to be incapacitated by coronavirus and when he had no alternative, I think he followed the instincts of every father and every parent and I do not mark him down for that."
Advert
Johnson also claimed that 'some' of the allegations that have been made against his aide were 'palpably false'.
He said: "Though there have been many other allegations about what happened when he was in self-isolation and thereafter, some of them palpably false, I believe that in every respect he has acted responsibly and legally and with integrity and with the overwhelming aim of stopping the spread of the virus and saving lives."
When asked whether he supported Cummings, Johnson reiterated: "I think what they did was totally understandable."
Advert
Featured Image Credit: PA
Topics: UK News, Interesting, Coronavirus
