How will Dominic Cummings strike next after ‘f***ing hopeless’ bombshell?
Former adviser offers evidence that PM had doubts about Matt Hancock
Dominic Cummings dropped another “Dom bomb” yesterday in the form of a message in which Boris Johnson appears to call Health Secretary Matt Hancock “totally f***ing hopeless”.
The former No. 10 aide published a series of “incendiary revelations” on the Substack blogging platform and in a 92-post Twitter thread “just minutes” before Prime Minister’s Questions, says the Daily Mail. Cummings backed up his claims with screenshots of WhatsApp messages and pictures of whiteboards in the PM’s study.
And pundits have suggested that Johnson’s former right-hand man is just getting started on a “prolonged campaign” to damage the government.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What is Cummings claiming now?
In what the Mail calls a “7,000-word diatribe alleging a series of failures”, Cummings lays out why he thought Hancock had made “false” claims about Covid-19 testing, PPE and care homes.
A WhatsApp screenshot from March 2020 appears to show Johnson’s verdict that Hancock’s performance on testing was “f***ing hopeless” - a verdict that the PM apparently repeated in another exchange. Commenting on the UK’s failure to buy ventilators, Johnson replies: “It’s Hancock. He’s been hopeless.”
But Cummings writes that “although the PM whinged to me and others, he would never say to him, despite dozens of requests from two cabinet secretaries, me and other ministers and officials: stop this routine or you’re fired”.
The former chief advisor also argues that Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab did a better job than Johnson when he covered for the PM, as he can “chair meetings properly instead of telling rambling stories and jokes”. Raab let “good officials actually question people”, unlike Johnson, who shouts “forward to victory”, gives a “thumbs-up” and is then seen “pegging it out of the room” when things get “a bit embarrassing”, Cummings continues.
The “Dom bomb” disclosures are “acutely embarrassing for Johnson as well as Hancock”, says The Independent’s Andrew Grice, who contends that the decision to retain a “useless” health secretary during the Covid crisis “raises very serious questions” about the PM’s judgement.
What are Hancock and Johnson saying?
Downing Street has not denied that the WhatsApp messages are genuine, with the PM’s press secretary saying: “We are not going to get into engaging with individual allegations, so we will leave it there.”
However, The Times says that Hancock is “set to be exonerated” over the claims that he lied to the PM about testing patients who had been discharged into care homes from hospitals.
Johnson’s spokesperson insisted yesterday that the Tory leader continued to have “full confidence” in Hancock. And Jeremy Hunt, chair of the joint parliamentary inquiry that heard evidence from Cummings last month, said the claim that the health secretary had lied was yet to be substantiated.
Meanwhile, Hancock gave his response to Cummings’ latest claims. Asked through a car window if he was “hopeless” by Sky News yesterday, he shouted back: “I don’t think so.”
What is Cummings’ long-term plan?
“Cummings has hinted that the messages are the start of a prolonged campaign to damage the government,” says The Times.
In his blog, the former adviser insists that he just wants to answer “what went wrong and how do we learn”, and that he will not publish further messages “just to embarrass the PM or others” but rather “to force the system to face reality and change”.
He has also claimed that Johnson has a “clear plan” to quit No. 10 by 2026 - a suggestion that the PM’s press secretary dismissed as “utter nonsense”.
According to Cummings, his former boss delayed the public inquiry into the government’s handling of the Covid pandemic so that the “tricky parts” won’t come up until he has left Downing Street, which at the latest will be “a couple of years after the next election”.
“He wants to make money and have fun not ‘go on and on’,” the ex-aide continues. So in the meantime, “we either live with chronic dysfunction for another ~5 years or some force intervenes”.
Whether Cummings himself will be the “force” remains to be seen.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The clown car cabinet
Opinion Even 'Little Marco' towers above his fellow nominees
By Mark Gimein Published
-
Ed Park's 6 favorite works about self reflection and human connection
Feature The Pulitzer Prize finalist recommends works by Jason Rekulak, Gillian Linden, and more
By The Week US Published
-
6 fantastic homes in Columbus, Ohio
Feature Featuring a 1915 redbrick Victorian in German Village and a modern farmhouse in Woodland Park
By The Week Staff Published
-
Can Europe pick up the slack in Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Trump's election raises questions about what's next in the war
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
What does the G20 summit say about the new global order?
Today's Big Question Donald Trump's election ushers in era of 'transactional' geopolitics that threatens to undermine international consensus
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published
-
Will Trump fire Fed chair Jerome Powell?
Today's Big Question An 'unprecedented legal battle' could decide the economy's future
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Will Donald Trump wreck the Brexit deal?
Today's Big Question President-elect's victory could help UK's reset with the EU, but a free-trade agreement with the US to dodge his threatened tariffs could hinder it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Where did Democratic voters go?
Voter turnout dropped sharply for Democrats in 2024
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Can Ukraine win over Donald Trump?
Today's Big Question Officials in Kyiv remain optimistic they can secure continued support from the US under a Trump presidency
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Where does Elon Musk go from here?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION After gambling big on Donald Trump's reelection bid, the world's wealthiest man is poised to become even more powerful — and controversial — than ever
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How did Trump shift voters to the right and win?
Today's Big Question Latino voters led a national shift to the right
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published