Boris Johnson wrote this in 2013 ( link below)
Let us suppose you are losing an argument,” he wrote in March 2013. “The facts are overwhelmingly against you, and the more people focus on the reality the worse it is for you and your case.
“Your best bet in these circumstances is to perform a manoeuvre that a great campaigner describes as 'throwing a dead cat on the table, mate'."
People would still be “outraged, alarmed, disgusted” but talking about the dead cat instead of “the issue that has been causing you so much grief”.
AIBU to think that the timing and nature of last night’s announcement of yet more ‘just in case’ restrictions (against the WHO advice) are mainly the dead cat to distract us from his mess?
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/9906445/This-cap-on-bankers-bonuses-is-like-a-dead-cat-pure-distraction.html
YANBU- yes the new restrictions and timing are BorisJohnson’s dead cat’
YABU- no, the restrictions and their timing are coincidental and have nothing to do with the government trying to distract us