Thursday, June 17, 2021
Hopeless
The Guardian reports on the latest revelations in the Cummings-Johnson feud with the former special advisor launching a fresh onslaught on the Prime Minister and his health secretary.
The paper says that in a 7,000 word essay, Dominic Cummings called Matt Hancock “totally fucking hopeless” and mocked the Boris Johnson for saying he intended to leave office after the next election to “have fun and make money”;
Hinting he intended to continue his campaign against Johnson’s “chronic dysfunction”, the prime minister’s former chief aide published a slew of texts and documents from emergency Cobra meetings that he said would combat what he called “lies” from Downing Street and the health secretary about the initial handling of the pandemic.
Cummings had been asked to hand over documents to a select committee inquiry into the pandemic but did not meet the committee’s deadline before Hancock gave evidence last week.
In his post, Cummings said:
The paper says that in a 7,000 word essay, Dominic Cummings called Matt Hancock “totally fucking hopeless” and mocked the Boris Johnson for saying he intended to leave office after the next election to “have fun and make money”;
Hinting he intended to continue his campaign against Johnson’s “chronic dysfunction”, the prime minister’s former chief aide published a slew of texts and documents from emergency Cobra meetings that he said would combat what he called “lies” from Downing Street and the health secretary about the initial handling of the pandemic.
Cummings had been asked to hand over documents to a select committee inquiry into the pandemic but did not meet the committee’s deadline before Hancock gave evidence last week.
In his post, Cummings said:
- Johnson considered “taking Hancock off and putting [Michael] Gove on”.
- No strategy for full lockdown was modelled until 14 March, and he published documents predicting 250,000 deaths in the first wave.
- Johnson told “rambling stories and jokes” during emergency meetings and refused to ask officials awkward questions.
One former colleague of Cummings, once the prime minister’s closest aide, said he was “determined to bring down the prime minister” with a sustained campaign to highlight high-level incompetence. “He is not after a quiet life, he is in this for the long haul,” the former ally said.
However, critics suggested the evidence published still did not contain a smoking gun. Jeremy Hunt, who co-chairs the committee where Cummings and Hancock gave evidence, tweeted that he was sceptical that the documents released by Cummings proved Hancock had lied.
He said the messages “show the PM’s total frustration … but do not prove anyone ‘lied’”.
Downing Street refused to comment on Cummings’ claims, while also declining to deny the veracity of the screenshots, or to reject the specific claims. “I don’t plan to get into the detail of what’s been published,” Johnson’s spokesperson said. Asked if the images of the PM’s messages were genuine, he said: “Our focus is on not examining those specific images, but delivering on the public’s priorities.”
This is what is known in politics as a 'popcorn moment', as we watch waiting to see how this particular feud pans out.
However, critics suggested the evidence published still did not contain a smoking gun. Jeremy Hunt, who co-chairs the committee where Cummings and Hancock gave evidence, tweeted that he was sceptical that the documents released by Cummings proved Hancock had lied.
He said the messages “show the PM’s total frustration … but do not prove anyone ‘lied’”.
Downing Street refused to comment on Cummings’ claims, while also declining to deny the veracity of the screenshots, or to reject the specific claims. “I don’t plan to get into the detail of what’s been published,” Johnson’s spokesperson said. Asked if the images of the PM’s messages were genuine, he said: “Our focus is on not examining those specific images, but delivering on the public’s priorities.”
This is what is known in politics as a 'popcorn moment', as we watch waiting to see how this particular feud pans out.
