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THE UK GOVERNMENT has launched an investigation into a critical tweet sent from the UK Civil Service official account minutes after Boris Johnson defended his senior aide Dominic Cummings over a 260-mile trip he made during lockdown.

Calls have been made throughout the day for Cummings to resign after he drove from London to Durham at the end of March with his wife and child after his spouse developed coronavirus symptoms. 

These calls for his resignation have only intensified since further allegations emerged that he made a second trip to Durham in mid April, and was also seen at Barnard Castle on Easter Sunday – which is located 30 miles from Durham.

At a press conference this evening, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that he was satisfied Cummings acted “legally, responsibly, and with integrity”; claimed some allegations were “palpably false” but didn’t clarify which ones; and said no further action would be taken against his senior adviser. 

Minutes after the conference ended, a barrage of criticism was focused on Johnson for his defence of Cummings’ actions – including a tweet from the official Twitter account for the UK Civil Service, which stated:

Arrogant and offensive. Can you imagine having to work with these truth twisters?

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The tweet was then deleted.

Later, the Cabinet Office said that “an unauthorised tweet was posted on a government channel this evening. The post has been removed and we are investigating the matter.”