Dominic Cummings has launched his latest attack on Boris Johnson’s government, declaring that the “horrific decision-making” of those in power amounted to “the blind leading the blind”.
The former Downing Street advisor told subscribers to his Substack page that his experience in government was “fascinating but very troubling”.
“The world is so dangerous, there are so many very smart and able people – when you watch the apex of power you feel like ‘If this were broadcast, everyone would sell everything and head for the bunker in the hills’,” Mr Cummings said.
It came as Matt Hancock attempted to play off reports that MrJohnson called him “totally f***ing hopeless” in his handling of Covid-19 by arguing that the prime minister only made the comment because he was “stressed”.
Amid speculation around his position in the government, the health secretary insisted on Monday that the revelation had not been embarrassing for him.
Newest MP in Westminster arrives with ‘warning’ for Johnson
The UK’s newest MP has arrived in Westminster with a warning to Boris Johnson that his “Blue Wall” of seats in southern England is vulnerable to the Liberal Democrats, according to the party’s leader.
Sarah Green secured a shock by-election victory for the Lib Dems last week in Chesham and Amersham, a seat that had been Conservative since its creation in 1974.
The Conservatives held the seat with a majority of more than 16,000 in 2019 but Ms Green ended up winning it by 8,028 votes.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey told the PA news agency: “There’s this Blue Wall which is now vulnerable to Liberal Democrat attack.
“People focus on the Red Wall in the North, but the Tories had better watch their rear flank because the Liberal Democrats are coming after them.”
He added: “There is no doubt that there is a large number of Conservative MPs now who will be looking over their shoulder, Conservative MPs who represent what we call the Blue Wall seats that are now vulnerable to the Liberal Democrat advance.”
Sunak shared concern over Johnson’s handling of Covid, Cummings claims
Dominic Cummings has claimed that chancellor Rishi Sunak shared concerns that Boris Johnson had “no plan” to deal with Covid-19 and was wrongly delaying a second lockdown last autumn.
In a series of messages on his Substack blog, Mr Cummings said that the UK could have avoided the need for a second lockdown altogether if it had followed up the first set of restrictions properly, but Mr Johnson “totally bogged it”.
Our political editor, Andrew Woodcock, has the full story below:
Our political commentators John Rentoul, Andrew Grice and Kate Devlin will be discussing the fifth anniversary of the Brexit referendum on Wednesday with guest speakers David Gauke and Lord Adonis.
You can find out how to sign up to the event below:
Fears over Europeans living in UK who have not yet applied for settled status
The government has said it is working hard to identify tens of thousands of Europeans living in the UK who have yet to apply for a new post-Brexit residency scheme ahead of next week’s cut-off date.
Downing Street said a “small minority” of those eligible for the settled status scheme had yet to come forward amid concerns that EU citizens – as well as nationals of Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland – could lose their benefits if they miss the 30 June deadline.
The Times reported that official estimates circulating in Whitehall at the start of the month calculated that of the 820,000 European benefits claimants in the UK, about 130,000 had yet to apply.
Of those, about 90,000 were said to be in receipt of universal credit.
“We are making sure that anyone receiving benefits is given every opportunity to apply to the EU settlement scheme,” the PM’s official spokesperson said on Monday.
“We are working hard to identify existing claimants who are yet to apply and encouraging them to do so.
“Anyone who has applied for the scheme by the 30 June deadline will have their rights protected until their application is decided.”
They added: “In line with the (Brexit) Withdrawal Agreement, those who have reasonable grounds for missing the deadline will be able to make a late application.
“We will continue to work hard to identify the remaining small minority who have not yet come forward.”
Social care leaders call on Boris Johnson to publish proposed reforms
Social care leaders in England have called on Boris Johnson’s government to publish its proposed reforms for the sector before parliament breaks for the summer.
In a letter to Mr Johnson, chancellor Rishi Sunak and health secretary Matt Hancock, leaders of organisations representing adult social care providers said the time for reform was now.
They added that immediate funding was needed to ensure short-term stability and to “avoid serious risks to support” during the next phase of the pandemic.
The leaders have also called for proposals for longer-term investment and reform to be brought forward as an immediate priority to create a simpler, fairer system.
Signatories of the letter include Stephen Chandler, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, and Professor Martin Green on behalf of the Care Provider Alliance.
‘Horrific decision-making’: Cummings launches latest attack on Johnson’s government
Dominic Cummings has launched his latest attack of Boris Johnson’s government, claiming that if decision-making in Whitehall was publicised “everyone would sell everything and head for the bunker in the hills”.
The former Downing Street advisor made his comments on Monday in an online Q&A session for subscribers to his Substack page.
In response to a question on his experience of being “close to power and the opportunities it provided”, Mr Cummings said: “Fascinating but very troubling.
“The world is so dangerous, there are so many very smart and able people – when you watch the apex of power you feel like ‘If this were broadcast, everyone would sell everything and head for the bunker in the hills’.”
He added that it was “impossible to describe how horrific decision-making is at the apex of power” and that it was “generally the blind leading the blind”.
Downing Street refuses to comment on PM’s ‘crunch’ meeting with Sunak and Hancock
Downing Street has refused to comment on reports suggesting Boris Johnson is to meet with Rishi Sunak and Matt Hancock on Tuesday for “crunch talks” on social care.
“As is standard practise, we don’t comment on internal meetings and the timings of them,” the PM’s official spokesman said.
It comes following reports over the weekend that the chancellor had been planning to confront the PM over a series of uncosted spending pledges, including a new royal yacht.
The Guardian earlier today reported the meeting has been postponed.
Government ‘finalising’ social care plan
The government is “finalising” a plan on “long-term solutions” for social care, Downing Street has said.
Boris Johnson in 2019 said he had a “clear plan” to reform the sector. But nearly two years later it has still not emerged.
Today, a No 10 spokesperson suggested it may not come until the end of this year.
It comes after reports over the weekend that the PM, Rishi Sunak and Matt Hancock were to meet for crunch talks on the sector.
Asked about the hold-up, the PM’s official spokesman said: “We are finalising the work on bringing forward our proposals for coming up with a long-term solution for social care.
“Obviously there has been a global pandemic in the interim.”
Pressed on when the changes would be finalised, the No 10 official added: “I think the Health Secretary talked about bringing the proposals out before the end of the year.”
Burnham and Sturgeon row over Scotland travel policy
Andy Burnham and Nicola Sturgeon are embroiled in a war of words over Scotland’s Covid travel policy.
On Sunday, the Greater Manchester mayor demanded compensation from Scotland over rules that restrict people in the North West of England from crossing the border.
But Scots are allowed to head in the opposite direction, a situation Mr Burnham said was unfair, accusing the FM of hypocrisy
Ms Sturgeon has hit back today, saying the mayor was attempting to “generate a spat” for political gain.
She told the BBC: “I have a duty, and it’s one I take very seriously, to keep Scotland as safe as possible.
“I’m sure Andy Burnham feels the same sense of duty toward people in the Greater Manchester area.
“I’ve always got on well with Andy Burnham and if he wants to have a grown-up conversation he only has to pick up the phone.
“But if, as I suspect might be the case, this is more about generating a spat with me as part of some positioning in a Labour leadership contest in future, then I’m not interested.
Opinion: ‘The last thing this country needs is a new royal yacht’
Boris Johnson’s plan for a new royal yacht is at best built off a “deluded belief” in the effectiveness of soft power and at worst a “very expensive personal toy”, according to our commentator Sean O’Grady.
Ministers have suggested that the proposed ship could be used to help secure key post-Brexit trade deals but so far few people seemed to be impressed by the idea.
Sean writes:
“Now, £200m, or even £1bn, might be worth it if it could get us those elusive post-Brexit trade deals with America and India or pull in gigantic amounts of foreign direct investment. The evidence for that, though, is scant. You often hear some old buffer talking about how much Jonny Foreigner was impressed when the band of the Royal Marines struck up ‘A Life On The Ocean Wave’ as he sipped a goodly quantity of perfectly mixed gin and Dubonnets before attaching his tipsy signature for a record order of military jets or a couple of nuclear power stations, but I’ve never seen any proper evidence of such commercial usefulness.”
You can find his full piece below:
