Covid inquiry: Dominic Cummings branded ministers ‘useless f*ckpigs’ as No10 chaos laid bare
Former top No10 aide Dominic Cummings branded cabinet ministers “useless f*ckpigs”, “morons” and “c**ts” in foulmouthed messages revealed to the UK’s Covid-19 inquiry.
The former Vote Leave boss apologised for his “appalling” language but insisted it “reflected a widespread view” held by “a lot of senior people” – and even claimed he “understated” the crisis.
Cummings and former communications director Lee Cain appeared at the official probe into the pandemic response where they laid bare the extent of government chaos in early 2020.
Whatsapps from August 2020 released by the inquiry showed Cummings calling for a reshuffle and claiming: “At the moment the bubble thinks you’ve taken your eye off ball, [and] you’re happy to have useless f***pigs in charge…”
He said “chaotic news” was “coming from the Cabinet who are feral” and urged for Matt Hancock and Gavin Williamson to be sacked as health and education secretaries.
On Hancock, who Cummings has long appeared to dislike, he said: “He is a proven liar who nobody believes… and we face going into autumn crisis with the c*** in charge of NHS still.”
Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser told the inquiry “everyone” in Downing Street called the then-prime minister “a trolley”, in a reference to him changing his mind on policy directions.
He Whatsapped Cain saying Johnson was “back to Jaws mode wank”, “melting down” and was “saying stupid shit”, the inquiry heard, while Cain responded: “I’m exhausted with him.”
The former communications chief told the inquiry that Covid-19 was the “wrong crisis for this prime minister’s skillset” and said he would “often delay” decisions and “change his mind”.
And Cain said Johnson – and senior Whitehall figures – “should have done more” about the coronavirus pandemic in early March 2020, with Whatsapp messages stating the then-prime minister believed at the time the disease would “be like swine flu” and not a “big deal”.
Structural issues Cummings raised included the Cabinet Office – the department which runs government – being, he said, a “bomb site” and a “dumpster fire”; No10 being “completely unsuitable” to handle a crisis like Covid, and Johnson not being “keen” on attending the emergency meetings known as Cobra.
He also claimed the Cabinet Office were “terrifyingly shit”, the inquiry heard, and said there was a “twisted logic” to not stopping mass events such as Cheltenham Festival.
While the UK should have closed its borders sooner, and considerations about the impact of lockdown on vulnerable groups were “appallingly neglected”, Cummings claimed.
Cain also said he was critical of the Eat Out to Help Out policy and encouraging people to go back to work, while chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance wrote in a diary shared with the inquiry that Johnson appeared “obsessed with older people accepting their fate”.