Politics Archives

Thursday

27 May 2021

‘I was treated like a traitor’: An interview with WHO whistleblower Francesco Zambon

Francesco Zambon is calling the World Health Organisation (WHO) to account. Zambon, who was based at the WHO’s Venice bureau, claims that the WHO suppressed critical information about the pandemic to serve the political interests of member countries. There are conflicts of interest at the highest levels of the institution, he says. As a result, according to Zambon, the world lost valuable time in mounting effective defences against the pandemic. Back in May 2020, Zambon and his team wrote a report for the WHO called: ‘An unprecedented challenge: Italy’s first response to Covid-19’. The report, drafted in a time of emergency, was meant to help other nations still untouched by the

Wednesday

26 May 2021

James Forsyth

Will Cummings’s accusations damage Boris Johnson?

One of Dominic Cummings’s strengths as a campaigner was his genius for a clear message – think ‘Take Back Control’ or ‘Get Brexit Done’. But the case that he was trying to make today was more complicated. He was trying to persuade people both that the Prime Minister was not up to the job and that the system has failed. Cummings’s testimony today made Geoffrey Howe’s resignation speech look like a paean of praise The problem for him is that these two arguments cut against each other. If, as he himself acknowledged, even a Bill Gates-style figure would have struggled to deal with the problems of the Whitehall machine then

Kate Andrews

Dominic Cummings’s explosive claim about the Bank of England

Amidst all the explosive claims made by Dominic Cummings during today’s select committee hearing, one towards the beginning of the seven-hour session seemed rather unintentional. When asked by Rebecca Long-Bailey MP about what economic assessments were made when considering the first lockdown, Cummings responded that there was no straight-forward ‘document floating around’ which laid out the ‘economic costs’. He then alleged that conversations were taking place about removing the Bank of England’s independence: ‘It was the case that the Bank of England, the senior officials in the Treasury, senior officials in the Cabinet Office were saying, you know, we have to think about the consequence of, if we do this

Katy Balls

What we learnt from the Cummings evidence

17 min listen

From accusing Matt Hancock of criminal incompetence, to lifting the lid on the true nature of his relationship with Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings’s evidence was nothing short of explosive. Katy Balls talks to Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth about the highlights and what we learnt. There were few who escaped Cummings’s censure. But in some ways, the sheer scale of alleged incompetence means that no one accusation will stick in the way that they might have done had they been made individually. James says on the podcast: ‘One consolation for those that Cummings criticised today, that his criticisms ranged so widely across the piste, that it was like drinking from a

Isabel Hardman

Matt Hancock may get his revenge tomorrow

Today we heard more than seven hours of testimony from Dominic Cummings, much of it taking aim at Matt Hancock. Tomorrow it looks as though Hancock will give us several hours of his own take on the way the government – and Cummings – handled the pandemic. This evening, a spokesman for the minister said: ‘At all times throughout this pandemic the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and everyone in DHSC has worked incredibly hard in unprecedented circumstances to protect the NHS and save lives. We absolutely reject Mr Cummings’s claims about the Health Secretary. The Health Secretary will continue to work closely with the Prime Minister

Steerpike

Watch: nine bombshells from Dominic Cummings

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

The Spectator

Cummings, Covid and groupthink – a cautionary tale

It is hard to deny the importance of the issues raised this week by Dominic Cummings. His decision to identify the many mistakes made at the start of the pandemic is not about seeking vengeance; it is a vital process to ensure that errors are identified and not repeated. A vaccine-evading variant or a new virus could come along at any time. Should this happen, ministers must be ready. Some of the world’s finest minds worked on pandemic planning, in Britain and throughout the western world. The UK was once ranked as more prepared for a new virus than any country in Europe. But the failure to provide adequate PPE

Lloyd Evans

Boris will be delighted with Dominic Cummings’s evidence

Here it was. At long last. Dominic Cummings in the flesh at the parliamentary select committee. He was dressed in the same immaculate white cotton shirt that he sported for his ‘agony in the garden’ appearance in Downing Street a year ago. But this time he wasn’t in the dock. He was like a school governor on prize-giving day, handing out gongs, and delivering the odd stiff rebuke to senior prefects. Matt Hancock got a dressing-down he won’t forget. He was accused of misleading officials and the public. ‘He should have been fired for at least 15 or 20 things,’ said Dom, ‘for lying to everyone on multiple occasions.’ Whoops.

Steerpike

Matt Hancock’s nine firing offences – according to Dominic Cummings

Dominic Cummings was invited to appear in front of MPs today to talk about the government’s coronavirus response in the early stages of the pandemic. A neutral observer might suggest though that the true purpose of Cummings’s visit was to demolish the health secretary Matt Hancock. Near the beginning of his evidence Cummings suggested that there were ‘at least 15 to 20’ different reasons Hancock should have been fired since the outbreak and described him at various points as a ‘serial liar’, ‘stupid’, ‘disgraceful’ and even, ‘criminal’. By Mr Steerpike’s count, Dominic Cummings has so far given nine reasons that Hancock should have been given the chop, and suggested that

Coffee House

‘We failed’: Dominic Cummings’s evidence, as it happened

Dominic Cummings has given evidence to a joint meeting of the science and technology select committees about the government’s response to Covid-19. Below is how the bombshell session unfolded. The top lines: Cummings said the government’s response to Covid-19 meant that ‘tens of thousands of people died who didn’t need to die’. (14:12) Matt Hancock ‘categorically told’ No. 10 he would test those discharged from hospital into care homes. Hancock failed to do so, according to Cummings: ‘It was complete nonsense’. (13:15) Boris Johnson initially dismissed Covid as a ‘scare story’, comparing it to swine flu. (09:53) Cummings said he moved his family to Durham because of security threats. (13:42) The former

Joanna Williams

School playgrounds are no place for ‘free Palestine’ protests

GCSE and A level assessments. Enforcing social distancing. Catch-up provision for pupils who fell behind during lockdown. Mental health support. Behavioural issues. Headteachers have more than enough to worry about right now. The conflict between Israel and Palestine? This one, at least, can be filed under ‘beyond my pay grade’. Or perhaps not. Should pupils be able to wear lanyards that show the Palestinian flag? Or display pro-Palestinian posters? Some see engaged teenagers exercising their right to free expression; others a stoking of racial tensions. Getting the balance right, particularly in a large, ethnically diverse school, is not straightforward. Mike Roper, headteacher at Allerton Grange school in Leeds, faced this

James Kirkup

Boris should be worried about Steve Baker, not Dominic Cummings

While Westminster fixates on Dominic Cummings, what could well be a bigger political challenge for Boris Johnson is being somewhat overlooked. That challenge is called Steve Baker. Baker has now launched his long-whispered campaign over net zero and the policies it entails. He’s in the Sun today talking about issues including gas boilers and the need to replace them with something that doesn’t burn gas. Reaching net zero carbon emissions means a boiler switchover has to happen, and soon. Homes account for about 14 per cent of the UK’s carbon output, and weaning the country off gas boilers is possibly the trickiest bit of making net zero (a legal requirement,

Isabel Hardman

Cummings leaves Boris rattled at PMQs

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in Downing Street as Dominic Cummings gave his evidence to the science and technology and the health select committees this morning. As it happens, we had the chance to see Boris Johnson reacting almost in real time to the revelations and allegations from his former aide, because he was taking Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons, with the main exchanges with Sir Keir Starmer falling conveniently in a 15 minute intermission in the evidence session. And the Prime Minister was clearly rattled. He resorted to many of the stock phrases that we have come to associate with him trying to avoid difficult

Andrew Willshire

The tragedy of Dominic Cummings

Dominic Cummings’s main concern as he appears in front of MPs is to identify the failures of government and ensure everyone knows they weren’t his failures, but those of the fools who refused to listen to him. It’s rather a tragic final act, for the truth is that Cummings did fail (and, to be fair, he has admitted some of his failings in front of the committee). Not so much as regards the pandemic (although given his influence, it is hard not to assign some culpability to him) but in his stated desire to improve the overall performance of government. For those of us who admired his intellect, his drive and his

Henry Hill

Eurovision is too important to let the SNP play politics with it

The SNP never passes up an opportunity to make the case for separatism. Now, its campaign for independence has moved away from politics and into the world of the Eurovision song contest. The party has responded to the United Kingdom’s dire showing at the competition with a predictable demand: that Scotland should be allowed to compete separately next time around. Alyn Smith, the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesman, believes we should ‘talk seriously about entering UK nations separately into the contest’. ‘Scotland is rich in talent and culture, and I want the world to see it. By entering independently, we could one day bring Eurovision back to Scotland,’ Smith added. It’s true that Eurovision is an

John Myers

How to build more houses

Since the 1930s, bad planning has destroyed swathes of our most precious heritage while causing economic damage that, by some estimates, exceeds that of the second world war. We will end the disaster only if we learn from past mistakes. The current war about housing targets and ‘concreting over the South East’ is the latest in a long line of — generally successful — revolts against government housebuilding plans. In the 1940s, jeering protestors coined the name ‘Silkingrad’ for housing minister Lewis Silkin’s new town of Stevenage. In the 1980s, Nicholas Ridley’s controversial boost in housebuilding was reversed when he was replaced by Chris Patten. And in 2010 the backlash

Patrick O’Flynn

An electoral pact would be disastrous for Labour

How do you tell a politician who has just been punched in the face by the electorate that something is looming that will cause him a bigger and far longer-lasting headache? Keir Starmer probably already has an inkling about the next tortuous twist facing his Labour leadership: mounting pressure to open talks with the leaders of other left-of-centre parties about forming an electoral pact. The weekend’s latest opinion poll by YouGov set out the nightmare trap into which the left in general and the Labour party in particular has fallen. The party ratings were as follows: Conservatives 46, Labour 28, Greens 8, Lib Dems 8, SNP 5, Reform UK 2,

Steerpike

Domageddon previewed: what Cummings will say

D-Day is finally here. Like the rest of SW1, Mr S will be tuning into Dominic Cummings’s appearance at a Commons joint committee later today. Kick off is 9:30 a.m. with four hours of theatrics expected to focus on his criticisms of the government’s handling of the Covid pandemic. The political editor of ITV Robert Peston revealed yesterday that the former chief special adviser will ‘not pull his punches’ and claim Johnson said ‘Covid is only killing 80-year-olds’ when justifying a delayed lockdown in the autumn. Now the impeccably connected Simon Walters goes further in previewing what Cummings will say this morning. Walters – whose reporting on the Downing Street renovation has caused

Tuesday

25 May 2021

Ross Clark

The boiler ban fiasco and the true cost of net zero

Politically it must have seemed an easy promise for Theresa May to make in the dying days of her premiership: to commit Britain to a legally-binding target of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, rather than the 80 per cent reduction previously stipulated in the Climate Change Act. It was the summer of 2019 and Extinction Rebellion protests had taken place with surprisingly little counter-protest. David Attenborough’s TV documentary was received warmly by the press, and polls indicated that the public appeared to supported action on climate change – according to a YouGov poll in December 2018 two thirds of the population stated they did not believe the risks of

Isabel Hardman

The local lockdown debacle

What a mess. Ministers have today been defending the decision to place eight areas in what is being called a ‘lockdown by stealth’, after it turned out that the government had quietly published guidance to slow the spread of the Indian variant without telling anyone in those areas. That guidance, which pitched up on the gov.uk website at 5.26pm on Friday, told people to avoid indoor meetings and avoid travelling in and out of affected areas unless it is essential. But when journalists from the Manchester Evening News approached local politicians and public health officials, it turned out that they didn’t know about this guidance. Which rather begs the question