Arthur Greene
If you’re ever feeling down about the government’s response to the pandemic, just remember what UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s right-hand-man had to say about his old boss.
Dominic Cummings, the brains behind Brexit and Johnson’s one-time close adviser, today sat before MPs and proceeded to rip the government a new one.
After being sacked by Johnson last November amid party infighting, Cummings held a marathon evidence session with MPs on Wednesday.
Here is a list of key moments from the afternoon:
- His opening remarks began, “Senior ministers, officials and advisers like me fell disastrously short of the standards the public have a right to expect in a crisis like this.”
- In the early days of the pandemic, he said, “Lots of key people were ski-ing in the middle of February” rather than tackling the crisis.
- On March 10, a senior cabinet office official came to Johnson’s office to warn of the impending disaster.
“I’ve been told for years there’s a whole plan for this — there is no plan,” Cummings claimed MacNamara said. “I’ve come through here to tell you I think we are absolutely fucked.”
- On March 12, Cummings said he sent a note to Johnson that he thought the cabinet office was “terrifyingly shit,” and he described Johnson as being “unfit for the job” of prime minister.
- He said that in three weeks leading to 13 March, the risk of 500,000 Covid-19 deaths in the UK went from being seen by scientists and officials as minimal, to 20% probability on 2 March, to “central planning assumption” on 13 March.
- He accused Secretary of State for Health, Matt Hancock, of being a liar and says he should have been sacked on at least 15 occasions.
He claimed that Johnson did in fact come close to sacking him, but told Cummings he should be kept until there’s a public inquiry, at which time he can be blamed for the government’s failures.
- Cummings confirmed widespread reports that Johnson said in a meeting that he would see “bodies pile high” rather than order a third lockdown.
Image source: @nytimesworld
