Boris needed to scrap Covid guidelines to distract from Dominic Cummings breaking regulation

Boris Johnson needed to hurry to scrap Covid restrictions as a distraction after it was revealed that Dominic Cummings had damaged lockdown guidelines. The Mirror broke the story that the PM’s high aide had pushed 264 miles from London to his mother and father’ property in Durham in March 2020 regardless of having coronavirus signs.

Diary notes written by Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, which have been revealed by the Covid Inquiry immediately, reveal how Mr Johnson needed to divert consideration from the row. In an entry on May 25 – two days after the Mirror revealed its scoop – he warned that Mr Cummings’ journey was “clearly against the rules”.

He wrote: “PM seems very bullish and wants to have everything released sooner and more extremely than we would. Wants to divert from the DC (Dominic Cummings) fiasco. All very worrying. Cabinet all upbeat and ‘breezy confidence’ – incredibly alarming.”

Sir Patrick described in his notes how senior No10 officials had tried to “robust arm” him and Professor Sir Chris Whitty into appearing before the media as the row over the lockdown breach raged. But he said that they were “very reluctant” to do so as they believed it would “undermine our credibility”.

He described the press conference given by Mr Cummings in the Downing Street garden as he tried to defend himself as a “automobile crash” and “rambling”. Mr Cummings admitted to journalists that during his time in Durham he had driven his family to Barnard Castle, a beauty spot 30 miles away. But he argued this was necessary to check his eyesight was good enough for the longer drive back to London.

In other notebook entries, Sir Patrick complained about Mr Johnson’s chaotic leadership style. In July 2020 he wrote: “The ridiculous flip-flopping is getting worse – perhaps as he recovers?” A few months later in September that 12 months, he wrote: “He is all over the place and completely inconsistent. You can see why it was so difficult to get agreement to lockdown 1st time.”

At the Covid Inquiry today, Mr Johnson’s Principal Private Secretary Martin Reynolds described Mr Cummings as “the most empowered chief of staff Downing Street has seen”. Giving proof, the highest official stated the adviser “was the person whose writ ruled, who was able to drive things through the machine in the way I suspect few other chiefs of staff have done”. But Mr Reynolds instructed that tensions in Downing Street that have been created by Mr Cummings proved a distraction because the pandemic hit. He talked about the adviser’s drive to convey “misfits and weirdos” into No10 as aides and the so-called “s***list” of senior civil servants he needed to oust.

Mr Reynolds was requested a few report that he and Deputy Cabinet Secretary Helen MacNamara wrote in May 2020 on issues about “macho behaviour” in Downing Street. Asked if the doc confirmed “dysfunctionality, lack of discipline, chaos and a significant degree of misogyny” on the coronary heart of Government, Mr Reynolds responded: “I agree.” The report warned that junior ladies in No10 have been “talked over or ignored”. “We need a modern culture of organised collaboration not superhero bunfight,” one official was reported as saying. Another complained: “No10 always at war with someone.”

Mr Cummings is because of give proof to the Covid Inquiry on Tuesday.