Did somebody say delete tweets? Former Just Eat boss appointed as cost-of-living tsar by Boris Johnson removes social media posts calling the PM thick and demanding he resign over Partygate scandal
A former fast food boss handed a role advising Boris Johnson about the cost of living crisis branded his new boss thick and demanded he quit over Partygate on social media.
David Buttress, the ex-chief executive and founder of Just Eat, made the comments in a series of tweets in January at the height of public anger about lockdown antics in Downing Street.
In one message uncovered today the Welsh multi-millionaire said ‘the worst people often rise to the highest office’ and the PM ‘has to go’ after it was revealed he and staff partied their way through the Covid pandemic.
In another he said that the PM was not ‘blessed’ with ‘intelligence or integrity’, and also criticised the Government’s refugee strategy.
Mr Buttress has also been a passionate advocate of Welsh independence – something the Government opposes – complaining ‘no party in the last hundred years has done more damage to Wales than the Conservatives’.
The comments are an embarrassment for the Government, coming just hours after Welshman Mr Buttress was made ‘cost of living business tsar’.
But within minutes of the messages circulating on Twitter they were deleted from his account.
David Buttress, the ex-chief executive and founder of Just Eat, made the comments in a series of tweets in January at the height of public anger about lockdown antics in Downing Street.
Within minutes of the messages circulating on Twitter they were mysteriously deleted from his account.
The comments are an embarrassment for the Government, coming just hours after Welshman Mr Buttress was made ‘cost of living business tsar’.
Downing Street has said comments by the Government’s new cost of living business tsar calling for Boris Johnson to go are ‘not relevant’ to his new position.
In response, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘We want to get people with the right experience into important roles such as these.
‘Anyone who looks at Mr Buttress’s CV can see that he is well-qualified to advise the Government in this specific area. Those views are not relevant to the role he is doing.’
In one message the Welsh Dragons chairman wrote: ‘Never confuse an expensive education with intelligence or integrity. I don’t think Boris is particularly blessed with either, imagine if he had not had the many privileges he has experienced.
‘Does anyone believe he would be PM on merit? Not a chance mate. 19 PM’s from Eton.’
In another he questioned the PM’s judgement, saying: Boris has to go, he just has to. You can’t survive judgement like this.’
And his independence speech in January 2020, he declared: ‘Time is up on Westminster for me. Let them have the kind of powers and government that they want.
‘Let them fill it with Boris Johnsons and right wing extremism – have what they like – but that is not the Wales I know. It is not a government I can recognise.’
The Cabinet Office said last night that Mr Buttress will work with the private sector to develop new business-led initiatives to help people struggling with the squeeze on living standards.
He was due to join Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi today at a meeting with supermarkets and sports organisations to discuss what assistance can be offered through initiatives like the Government’s holiday activities and food programme.
Announcing the appointment, Cabinet Office minister Steve Barclay said Mr Buttress would bring a ‘wealth of experience’ and the ‘vigour and ingenuity of business’ to the role.
‘Businesses and organisations across the country have stepped up time and time again when the nation needs it most. The financial pressures people are facing as a result of current global challenges will be no different,’ he said.
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