Explosive secret WhatsApp messages between Dominic Cummings and Boris Johnson
Dominic Cummings described the Cabinet Office as “terrifyingly s***” within the build-up to the primary Covid lockdown, alarming messages present.
Documents revealed by the official Covid Inquiry embody messages from March 12 2020, the place the-then high No10 aide advised Boris Johnson that some civil servants needed to delay ordering folks to remain at house as they “haven’t done the work and don’t work weekends”.
The inquiry, which examines the UK’s response to and impression of the pandemic, revealed a string of messages from Mr Cummings to his boss, by which he stated Sir Mark Sedwill – the then head of the Civil Service – “hasn’t a scooby”. Mr Cummings, who was uncovered by the Mirror for breaking lockdown guidelines he helped draw up by travelling to County Durham from London, additionally demanded Mr Johnson start chairing every day conferences within the Cabinet Room, quite than COBRA and banned devolved Governments, together with Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford, from being included.
On the 12 March 2020 at 8am, Mr Cummings texted: “We obtained huge issues coming… [Cabinet Office] is terrifyingly s***t, no plans, completely behind tempo, me and Warners and lee/slacky are having to drive and direct.”Mark [Sedwill] is out to lunch — hasn’t a scooby what’s going on and his own officials know he doesn’t… We must announce TODAY — not next week — ‘if feel ill with cold/flu stay home’.
“Some [Cabinet Office] want delay cos haven’t done the work and don’t weekends… We must force the pace today. We are looking at 100-500 thousand deaths between optimistic / pessimistic scenarios.” Three hours later, he advised the PM he wanted to “chair daily meetings in the Cabinet room — not COBRA — on this from tomorrow. I’m going to tell the system this”.
Mr Cummings, who Mr Johnson refused to sack however later dramatically fell out with, added that conferences have been to not have the devolved authorities – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – on the “f***ing phone all the time”. Mr Johnson’s witness assertion to the inquiry stated he typically left Michael Gove to chair the four-nation COBRA conferences, partly as a result of he didn’t wish to provoke the SNP as a “target of nationalist ire”.
It stated: “I am afraid I was conscious that I tended to be a particular target of nationalist ire. Rather than provoking the SNP, I wanted to mollify and gain consent. I believed Michael would do a good job.” The second part of the Covid Inquiry started final week, although Mr Johnson and Rishi Sunak ’s appearances earlier than the probe received’t happen till November. It was reported the pair’s appearances have been pushed again so as to keep away from disrupting celebration convention season. Mr Cummings resigned on 13 November 2020 and has since been a strident critic of the Government’s pandemic response and his former boss, who resigned himself as PM final 12 months after a Tory revolt after which as an MP in June over his Partygate lies.
