After a mammoth seven hour session, Dominic Cummings’ appearance at the joint science and health committee meeting has finally ended. The former chief special adviser took aim at Cabinet ministers, Boris Johnson’s fiancée, senior Whitehall officials and Jeremy Corbyn in three different segments focusing on the national lockdowns and Britain’s test and trace system. Below are Mr Steerpike’s guide to the highlights of the day…
Cummings’ relationship broke down with Boris
Cummings opened up for the first time to reveal in depth why he fell out with Boris Johnson. He says his decision to quit No. 10 was linked to Carrie Symonds, Johnson’s partner, trying to change various Downing Street appointments. In particular, he says she was trying to change the outcome of one official hiring process in a way that was ‘completely unethical.’ He also repeatedly referred to her as the Prime Minister’s ‘girlfriend’ not fiancée.
On Johnson, Cummings was brutally frank about his shortcomings. He claimed ‘fundamentally I regarded him as unfit for the job’ and that he should have ‘gambled on putting a gun to his head’ with regards to an October lockdown, offering Johnson the chance to implement a quarantine in exchange for Cummings resigning quietly without fuss.
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