Top UK civil servant: Leak inquiry will probably not find ‘chatty rat’
Downing Street’s so-called “chatty rat” who leaked the news of the second national Covid lockdown is unlikely to ever be identified by an ongoing leak inquiry, according to cabinet secretary Simon Case.
Case told MPs today that the inquiry into the leak will likely be complete in “weeks rather than months”, but refused to answer whether Dominic Cummings’ claims that the leaker was current Downing Street aide Henry Newman – a close friend of Boris Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds.
Cummings claimed that Johnson tried to stop the inquiry to not upset his fiancee – a charge Downing Street and Case both deny.
The top civil servant also answered questions around allegations that the Prime Minister had solicited donations for the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat, with Case saying that a trust was being set up for the costs of these kinds of renovations to be covered.
When asked about the chatty rate inquiry, Case said: “This investigation is ongoing and this is a clear indication that source or sources haven’t been identified,” he said.
“Given the time that has now past I think it’s probable the team will not successfully identify the source or sources, but the work is ongoing.
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“These investigations are often complex, there are many…lines of inquiry develop, some are resolved and some run into the ground.”
When asked on multiple occasions if he could rule out Cummings as the chatty rat, Case said he could not comment on individuals or give any in-depth details of the inquiry.
The cabinet secretary did say that the leaker in question would not be guilty of a criminal offence if found.
“The police and the Crown Prosecution Service etc concluded this leak did not meet the threshold for an offence under the Official Secrets Act or the offence of misconduct in public office,” he said.
The Prime Minister was again hit by leaks last night as the Daily Mail reported that Johnson said last year that he would rather see “bodies pile high in their thousands” than implement a third national lockdown.
The Prime Minister denies making the comment.
It comes amid a growing war between Johnson and his Cummings, his former chief aide.
he former Vote Leave mastermind posted on his blog on Friday that Johnson had fallen “so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserve”, while rebutting that he was the source of a leak about the Prime Minister’s contact with billionaire Sir James Dyson.
Downing Street blamed Cummings for the leak in three national newspapers, with The Sunday Times even reporting that Johnson briefed editors at the papers about it himself.
Cummings hit back with an explosive claim that the Prime Minister tried to block an inquiry of another leak last year because the expected perpetrator was Michael Gove aide Henry Newman – a close friend of Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds.
Cummings also claimed that Johnson was in line to break the ministerial code of conduct if he got Tory donors to pay for the renovations of his Downing Street flat as he allegedly planned.
Johnson has now paid the £58,000 for the renovations, however Cummings claims that he first solicited donations for the works without disclosing it to the Electoral Commission – Westminster’s donations watchdog.
The Prime Minister gets £30,000 a year from the taxpayer for renovations to their Downing Street flat.
Case said Number 10 was setting up a trust for donations to cover the cost of works that go beyond this amount.
“On the question of a trust there’s work been going on on this for more than 12 months on this idea,” he said.
“Chequers and Dorneywood are supported by charitable trusts and there are actually equivalent buildings around the world like the White House, which is supported by a trust.
“No Downing Street trust currently exists, work begun last spring, Lord Brownlow agreed to be chair of a putative trust, there was work done to identify cross party potential trustees.”
Cummings is expected to use a Westminster committee hearing next month to reveal private conversations and decisions made by the Prime Minister that may have exacerbated the UK’s Covid death toll – one of the highest in the world.
The Sunday Times reports that this may include voice recordings.