Sajid Javid and Nadhim Zahawi have taken to Twitter to mock the Daily Telegraph for apparently confusing them with each other in a tweet on Monday.
Javid, the health secretary, shared a thinking emoji with a screenshot of a Telegraph Twitter update showing the picture of his colleague, Zahawi, alongside the headline: “Omicron has spread in community, confirms Sajid Javid. Follow our latest updates on our coronavirus liveblog here”.
The education secretary shared Javid’s tweet and wrote: “As far as I know, side effects of Omicron don’t include growing a goatee and glasses …”.
As far as I know, side effects of Omicron don’t include growing a goatee and glasses… https://t.co/C9snuqhptu
— Nadhim Zahawi (@nadhimzahawi) December 6, 2021
Javid had been updating MPs in the House of Commons on Omicron and measures the government is taking in the hope of containing the spread of the new variant.
He confirmed there was community transmission of Omicron “across multiple regions of England”. He also told the Commons that there were now other methods that labs had brought in to detect suspected Omicron, and this capability was being expanded so that all testing centres would be able to pick it up “very soon”.
Just last month, a Conservative MP lost his senior role with a charity for apparently mixing up the same two cabinet ministers.
James Gray was told to step back as a commander of the St John Ambulance after he introduced the then vaccines minister, Zahawi, as the health secretary at a parliamentary reception last month, seemingly confusing him with Javid, who occupies that post.
