Quick, nurse, they’re at it again! Boris Johnson’s evidence to the Privileges Committee today has re-started the longest running war in Westminster, after a temporary cessation of hostilities. Johnson savages his former No. 10 advisor Dominic Cummings in his submission, referencing the Vote Leave guru and his infamous Substack no fewer than ten times during his 52-page submission.
Suffice it to say, none of those references are complimentary. Johnson torches his onetime confidante in his testimony, declaring that Cummings ‘cannot be treated as a credible witness’ as he ‘bears an animus towards me’. He writes that ‘it is not clear what, if any, work the Committee has done to test the credibility of what is now said by Dominic Cummings, including his animosity towards me’ and ‘that there is no evidence he was told that any gatherings broke Covid rules other than what Dominic Cummings now says.’ Johnson concludes that
there is no evidence at all that supports an allegation that I intentionally or recklessly misled the House. The only exception is the assertions of the discredited Dominic Cummings, which are not supported by any documentation.
Ouch. And now, true to form, Cummings has fired back on his aforementioned Substack. He writes darkly that ‘I’m in the middle of writing my own statement to the official inquiry’ before saying he’s looking forward to how ‘the Trolley tries to lie his way to safety’ tomorrow. Cummings then says that ‘the chances of him returning this year’ are overrated as Sunak:
Can use the vast trove of material in PET (the part of the Cabinet Office that deals with scandals) to smash the Trolley up. Much remains unpublished. And remember that useless Lord Geidt didn’t even bother investigating all sorts (he didn’t interview key people who actually knew what was going on). So if Sunak’s team is crashing, there’ll be people in No10 who’ll think ‘we may be doomed but we’ll finish the trolley off’. And spads who’d relish it will be helped by officials who don’t want the trolley smashing around again as they prepare for Starmer.
Good to see that, in these uncertain times, at least one constant feud remains…
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