Gary Lineker has mocked at Cabinet Minister Nadine Dorries for scoring an “own goal” in her scathing attack on Jeremy Hunt.
Former Health Secretary and Foreign Secretary Hunt announced on Monday that he would be voting against Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the upcoming vote of no confidence . Hunt said on Twitter that the Conservatives were “no longer trusted” by the public and were "not offering the integrity, competence and vision” following the Partygate scandal.
Dorries, who is the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and a firm Johnson loyalist, hit back in a Twitter thread of her own in which she lambasted Hunt’s efforts during the Covid pandemic. However, the Minister was widely ridiculed online for inadvertently admitting that Tory preparations for the pandemic were "inadequate".
Former England striker – and current Match of the Day presenter – Lineker has now added his weight behind those forming a queue to point out Dorries’ blunder. Replying to a tweet from Mirror Politics, Lineker wrote: “Serious contender for own goal of the season.”
After going into detail about Hunt’s work during the early stages of the pandemic, Dories launched into an eye-catching attack on her colleague. “Your pandemic preparation during six years as health secretary was found wanting and inadequate,” Dorries tweeted. “Your duplicity right now in destabilising the party and country to serve your own personal ambition, more so.
“You told others that PM and Gov would swiftly collapse on back of Brexit and you would swoop in. You told me as much in Victoria St after GE. If you had been leader you’d have handed the keys of No10 to Corbyn. You’ve been wrong about almost everything, you are wrong again now.”
Lineker is far from the only person to have pointed out Dorries’ obvious misstep. Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting seized on her comments as a "damning indictment" of botched planning ahead of the Covid pandemic.
He tweeted: "Conservative Cabinet minister admits that their pandemic preparation was ‘found wanting and inadequate’. This is a revealing admission and damning indictment of the Conservatives’ pandemic preparedness. They’re not fit to govern." Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner added: "They failed to keep us safe. You just can’t trust them."
Johnson will face the vote of no confidence on Monday evening. To retain his position in Downing Street he must receive the support of half of the Tory party in a secret ballot. To be removed 180 MPs must vote against him to remove him.
The vote was triggered on Monday morning after at least 15 per cent of Conservatives – some 54 MPs – wrote letters to the 1922 backbench committee expressing no confidence in his leadership.
