Like many proverbs in English, the term comes from Shakespeare. A “petard” was a small bomb, used for blowing up the fortifications of castles. To be hoisted on your own, as Hamlet put it, was to be blown up by it. I can find no evidence that such an explosive event ever took place at Barnard Castle. Until now.
That particular dead metaphor came to mind because the most interesting thing about the Dominic Cummings scandal is the reaction to it. The stupid actions and ridiculous excuses of one man are unlikely to have led to thousands of deaths. The same can’t be said of the broader crisis – the UK government’s multiple fatal failures to keep people safe from the virus.
As we’ve all been aghast at the prime minister’s chief strategist, the UK has taken top place on the global league table of deaths from COVID-19 per million. That should be the real scandal – that should be why we’re furious with Cummings.
