Former No10 svengali Dominic Cummings has shared a photo of himself after an emergency eye operation.
The controversial adviser, whose explosive Covid Inquiry evidence has lifted the lid on chaos under Boris Johnson, asked for suggestions on how to test his eyesight. He famously claimed to have been testing his eyesight during a lockdown trip to Barnard Castle, as revealed by The Mirror. It has been credited with undermining the Government's response to the pandemic.
Mr Cummings shared a picture of himself on Twitter as he shot back against latest revelations from the Inquiry. He revealed that he had been for a drink with former England international and ex-manager Peter Reid.
Mr Cummings wrote: "Was going to blog on Sedwill evidence (Lord Mark Sedwill, who spoke at the Covid Inquiry yesterday) but after routine appointment this am was shoved in a cab to an emergency eye operation." He went on to thank staff at Moorfields Hospital in North London.
He quipped: "And no this is not the result of my excellent drink with Peter Reid." And in a follow-up tweet he wrote: "When the bandage is off, I'll need to test it out... Suggestions welcome... Rumours of Nadine (Dorries) & Carrie (Johnson) ambush - dressed all in black - are false..."
Michelle Mone's husband gifted Tories 'over £171k' as Covid PPE row rumbles onIn response one user wrote: "I do hope this is an intentional barnard castle eye test gag." Another said: "How about a trip to Bernard Castle to check your eyesight? At least you have a real excuse this time!!"
It comes a day after brutal WhatsApp messages shown to the Covid Inquiry showed the UK's top civil servant had said working with Boris Johnson's team was like "taming wild animals". In one scathing message Simon Case, now Cabinet Secretary, wrote: "Nothing in my past experience has prepared me for this madness. The PM and the people he chooses to surround himself with are basically feral."
The messages were revealed as former Cabinet Secretary Lord Sedwill told the Inquiry he had warned Mr Cummings that No10 wasn't a "dictatorship".
Lashing back on Twitter, Mr Cummings wrote: "Re Mark: ask yourself - why did I, a spad, have to set up a system to integrate information in No10/Cabinet Office on the No1 item on the Government's risk register because the Cabinet Office could not do its job? It was not 'a dictatorship', it was again *the Vote Leave network having to build things* because the broken system couldn't build & couldn't organise operational action."
* Follow Mirror Politics on Snapchat, Tiktok, Twitter and Facebook.