Coronavirus UK news – Dominic Cummings tells MPs Boris Johnson 'nearly fired Matt Hancock 15 times' in pandemic grilling

DOMINIC Cummings says he advised the Prime Minister to sack Matt Hancock on multiple occasions for a string of failures during the Covid pandemic.

Mr Cummings claimed the Health Secretary was to blame for sending infected Covid patients back into care homes and should have been fired at least 15 times.

During PMQs today Mr Johnson slapped down claims he'd failed the nation after his ex-aide Dominic Cummings launched an extraordinary broadside at him over his Covid failings.

He told MPs: "I take full responsibility for everything that has happened. I am truly sorry for the suffering the people of this country experiences. But the government acted throughout with the intention to save lives, protect the NHS and in accordance with the best scientific advice."

Meanwhile, France is to toughen up its restrictions on arrivals from the UK over fears of the Indian variant of Covid-19.

Speaking after a meeting of the Defence Council on Wednesday, French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said France would introduce “compulsory isolation” for all arrivals from the UK.

Read our coronavirus live blog below for the latest news and updates…

• Joseph Gamp7 minutes ago

  HANCOCK SLAMMED

  Asked if people in Government should be worried about facing corporate manslaughter charges, he replied: "There's no doubt at all that many senior people performed far, far disastrously below the standards which the country has a right to expect.

  "I think that the Secretary of State for Health is certainly one of those people.

  "I said repeatedly to the Prime Minister that he should be fired. So did the Cabinet Secretary, so did many other senior people.

  "There is no doubt that many senior people were just terrible."

  The PM's spokesperson said this afternoon he has "full confidence" in Mr Hancock despite Dom's sensational claims.

  Challenged on his explosive claims that Mr Hancock had lied to fellow ministers and the public, he said there were "numerous examples" of him doing so and promised to provide written evidence.

  Mr Cummings said: "In the summer he said that everybody who needed treatment got the treatment they required.

  "He knew that was a lie because he’d been briefed by the Chief Scientific Adviser and the Chief Medical Officer about the first peak, and we were told explicitly people did not get the treatment they deserved. Many people were left to die in horrific circumstances."

• Joseph Gamp17 minutes ago

  HANCOCK TO HOST 5PM PRESS CONFERENCE TOMORROW (CONTINUED…)

  Mr Cummings said at the start of the outbreak last year the Department of Health was a "smoking ruin" and had "no plan" for how to shield the vulnerable.

  He also claimed it initially had been "turning down ventilators because the price was being marked up" and its system for buying vital PPE equipment like masks and gloves was "just completely hopeless".

  Accusing him of "criminal, disgraceful behaviour" that caused serious harm, he slammed him for only caring about hitting his testing targets.

  And he fumed: "The Secretary of State for Health should've been fired for at least 15-20 things, including lying to everybody on multiple occasions in meeting after meeting in the Cabinet Room and publicly."

  He sensationally claimed Mr Hancock had reassured them that people were being tested in hospitals before being sent back into care homes but "that hadn't happened".

  The promise to "put a shield around care homes" was "nonsense", he added.

  "We were told there was a plan for shielding. We were told that people would be sent back after they've been tested for Covid. It turned out that neither of those things were correct."

• Joseph Gamp32 minutes ago

  HANCOCK TO HOST 5PM PRESS CONFERENCE TOMORROW AFTER DOMINIC CUMMINGS CLAIMS

  MATT Hancock will host a 5pm press conference tomorrow after Dominic Cummings made damning claims today about the government's response to the Covid pandemic.

  Mr Cummings claimed the Health Secretary was to blame for sending infected Covid patients back into care homes and should have been fired at least 15 times.

  In a bombshell grilling session, the ex-No 10 chief adviser claimed he and other "senior people" in Government repeatedly urged the PM to give Mr Hancock the boot over "at least 15-20 things" he did wrong.

  And he claimed that the PM almost kicked him out last April – but ultimately decided not to.

  In an explosive appearance before MPs today he laid into Mr Hancock in extraordinarily personal fashion and accused him of botching the early response to the spread of the virus.

• Debbie White46 minutes ago

  MORE ON COVID CRISIS OVER CARRIE ‘GOING CRACKERS’

  Ms Symonds publicly rubbished a report at the time that claimed the couple planned to rehome their rescue pooch, describing it as "complete c**p".

  Laying bare a fiasco "so surreal it couldn't possibly be true", Mr Cummings said No10 resources were diverted to rebut these media reports.

  He said: "The PM's girlfriend was going completely crackers about this story and demanding the press office deal with that.

  "So we had this completely insane situation in which part of the building was saying we had to bomb Iraq, part of the building deciding whether to do quarantine, and the PM has his girlfriend going crackers about something completely trivial."

  The swipe at Ms Symonds is the latest salvo in their bitter feud that saw Mr Cummings leave No10 last December following a power struggle.

• Debbie White52 minutes ago

  COVID CRISIS OVER CARRIE 'GOING CRACKERS'

  A crucial Covid meeting was thrown into chaos by Boris Johnson's fiancee "going crackers" about her dog and Donald Trump's threat to bomb Iraq, Dominic Cummings sensationally claimed today.

  The PM's former adviser described how an "insane situation" in No10 on March 12 last year distracted officials from pressing pandemic decisions.

  Mr Cummings recalled: "Everything to do with Cobra that day on Covid was completely distracted because you had these two parallel sets of meetings.

  "You had National Security people running in and out as we were trying to figure out if we were going to do household quarantine."

  He then claimed further pandemonium erupted because Mr Johnson's fiancee Carrie Symonds was incensed about an article about her dog Dilyn.

  

• Debbie WhiteToday, 18:04

  FANDEMONIUM FOR MAN U FANS

  Manchester United fans have been getting into the party spirit in Gdansk ahead of tonight's Europa League final.

  The Red Devils will be backed by 2,000 travelling supporters from England tonight, as they face Villarreal in the Baltic city.

  And as fans starved of European travel have arrived in the city, they've been quick to revel in the adventure and have a good time.

  A great number have been seen enjoying Gdansk's bars. And of course, no shortage of pints have been consumed in the city centre.

  Plenty of United red has seen around town, while songs of yesteryear have also been sung. Some fans have even mingled with their Villarreal counterparts, with Anglo-Spanish relations in Poland believed to have been mostly friendly and cordial.

  

• Debbie WhiteToday, 17:49

  EU DEMANDS HUGE FINE FOR ASTRAZENECA

  A lawyer for the EU has accused AstraZeneca of failing to respect its contract with the 27-nation bloc to supply of Covid vaccines, and has asked a Belgian court to impose a large fine on the company.

  He said the bloc was seeking 10 euros for each day of delay for each dose as compensation for AstraZeneca's non-compliance with the contract.

  This could be as high as 200million euros per day from July 1, AstraZeneca's lawyer Hakim Boularbah told the court, asking the judge to revise it down in case of a negative verdict.

  The bloc took the Anglo-Swedish firm to court in April after the drugmaker said it would aim to deliver 100million doses of its vaccine by the end of June, instead of the 300m foreseen in the supply contract.

  AstraZeneca had delivered 50m doses by the beginning of May, just a quarter of the 200 million vaccines foreseen in the contract by then.

• Debbie WhiteToday, 17:39

  HEALTH MINISTER 'SHOULD BE SACKED' – CUMMINGS

  Health minister Matt Hancock should have been fired for allegedly 'lying' in government meetings on Covid, Boris Johnson's former top adviser Dominic Cummings said today.

  "I think that the Secretary of State for Health, should have been fired for at least 15, 20 things including lying to everybody in multiple occasions in meeting after meeting in the cabinet room and publicly," Cummings told a parliamentary committee.

  Asked for an example, Cummings said Hancock had said that all patients got the treatment they needed during the first peak of the virus. Cummings said that was contrary to briefings from the government's health experts, who had said some patients had not received necessary treatment.

  He also said Hancock had told ministers that the supply of personal protective equipment was under control in April, but that had later proved not been the case. Cummings also said the country's top civil servant had told him he had lost confidence in Hancock's honesty.

  A spokesman for Hancock said: "We absolutely reject Mr Cummings' claims about the Health Secretary. The Health Secretary will continue to work closely with the PM to deliver the vaccine rollout, tackle the risks posed by variants and support the NHS."

• Debbie WhiteToday, 17:26

  DOMINIC CUMMINGS LEAVES PARLIAMENT AFTER GIVING EXPLOSIVE EVIDENCE

  Dominic Cummings, former special adviser to PM Boris Johnson leaves the Houses of Parliament after giving evidence in central London, May 26.

  He was giving evidence over the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.

  

• Joseph GampToday, 17:16

  WATCH: DOMINIC CUMMINGS SAYS HE HEARD BORIS JOHNSON SAY 'LET THE BODIES PILE HIGH' IN COVID LOCKDOWN RANT

  Dominic Cummings says he heard Boris Johnson say ‘let the bodies pile high’ in Covid lockdown rant

• Joseph GampToday, 17:07

  CUMMINGS SAYS BORIS JOHNSON LIKES THE CHAOS

  Dominic Cummings said he had decided to leave Downing Street by the end of 2020 because the system was too chaotic.

  Speaking to the Science and Health select committees, Cummings said he told Boris Johnson he was leaving just before he was due to have an operation in the summer.

  When asked why he was leaving he said he the system in No 10 was too chaotic and he could not put together the team to fix it.

  He said he told the PM: “You are more frightened of me having the power to stop the chaos than the chaos itself”.

  The former adviser said Johnson then laughed and agreed, saying: “Chaos is not that bad, chaos means everyone has to look to me to sort it out”.

• [email protected]Today, 17:00

  DOMINIC CUMMINGS’ EVIDENCE: THE KEY CLAIMS

  • Official inquiry needs to be held sooner as ‘tens of thousands of people died who did not need to die’
  • Boris Johnson compared the virus to swine flu and suggested he should be injected with Covid-19 live on TV to prove it was not dangerous
  • Cummings told PM he must fire Matt Hancock for lying on multiple occasions including telling Cabinet people who would be tested before being sent back to care homes
  • ‘Lions led by donkeys’ – there were great people working on the response but the top leadership were not up to the job
  • There was no ‘sense of urgency' about the pandemic until late February
  • Former adviser said he drove hundreds of miles to Durham while suffering from Covid because of security threats to his family

  CUMMINGS SAYS BORIS JOHNSON LIKES THE CHAOS

  Dominic Cummings said he had decided to leave Downing Street by the end of 2020 because the system was too chaotic.

  Speaking to the Science and Health select committees, Cummings said he told Boris Johnson he was leaving just before he was due to have an operation in the summer.

  When asked why he was leaving he said he the system in No 10 was too chaotic and he could not put together the team to fix it.

  He said he told the PM: “You are more frightened of me having the power to stop the chaos than the chaos itself”.

  The former adviser said Johnson then laughed and agreed, saying: “Chaos is not that bad, chaos means everyone has to look to me to sort it out”.

  UPDATED UK DEATH TOLL

  The Government said a further nine people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Wednesday, bringing the UK total to 127,748.

  Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have now been 153,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

  The Government also said that, as of 9am on Wednesday, there had been a further 3,180 lab-confirmed cases in the UK.

  It brings the total to 4,470,297.

  DOMINIC CUMMINGS DENIES HE'S AFTER A ROLE WITH RISHI SUNAK

  Dominic Cummings has denied he is after a job in any future Rishi Sunak administration.

  Giving evidence to the Science and Health select committees, Cummings praised a lot of the Chancellor's measures to combat the pandemic and seemed reluctant to criticise the 'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme.

  He slammed the Government's general rollback of restrictions last summer but was evasive on the scheme which encouraged people to go to restaurants.

  But Cummings denied he was plotting a return to frontline politics saying everyone, including his wife, thought "the less they heard from him the better."

  • [email protected]Today, 16:20

    “COMPLETELY CRACKERS” THAT PM WAS IN CHARGE

    Dominic Cummings said it was “completely crackers” Boris Johnson was in charge and that thousands of people in the country could provide better leadership than the Prime Minister.

    Cummings said the fact that the public had to choose between Mr Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn in the 2019 election meant it was clear that the electoral system had “gone extremely, extremely badly wrong”.

    “There’s so many thousands and thousands of wonderful people in this country who could provide better leadership than either of those two,” he said.

    “And there’s obviously something terribly wrong with the political parties if that’s the best that they can do.”

  • [email protected]Today, 16:10

    BORIS JOHNSON FAILS TO DENY CLAIMS HE SAID “ONLY OVER 80s WERE DYING”

    Boris Johnson has insisted his Government at “every stage tried to minimise loss of life” as he failed to deny claiming Covid was “only killing 80-year-olds”.

    Sir Keir Starmer used Prime Minister’s Questions to grill Mr Johnson over allegations levelled against the Government, predominantly by his former senior adviser Dominic Cummings.

    At one stage the Labour leader asked Mr Johnson to refute an allegation that he delayed introducing a second lockdown last autumn because “Covid was only killing 80-year-olds”, with Mr Johnson replying that the independent public inquiry will examine the matter, before defending his decisions.

    SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford also asked about claims that the Government considered “chickenpox parties” and “injecting the Prime Minister with Covid live on TV”.

    Johnson replied: “I don’t recognise the events he describes.”

  • [email protected]Today, 15:58

    HANCOCK KEPT IN CABINET TO AS CANON FODDER FOR LATER INQUIRY, CUMMINGS SAYS

    Dominic Cummings said he told the Prime Minister "sometimes daily" that he had to fire Matt Hancock as Health Secretary.

    He said Boris Johnson had considering sacking him in April but decided against it because he had been told "you should keep him there because he's the person you sack when the inquiry comes along".

    Cummings said he stressed that if Hancock continued in his position they would face a further disaster in the Autumn with a second wave because he was making so many mistakes.

  • [email protected]Today, 15:54

    CUMMINGS SAYS HANCOCK USED MEDICAL OFFICERS AS SHIELDS

    Dominic Cummings has told MPs, Health Secretary Matt Hancock used medical officers such as Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Valance as "shields" for his own failings.

    He said he heard him telling the PM they could use the excuse of "following the science" in case things went wrong.

  • [email protected]Today, 15:50

    PM DID SAY 'LET THE BODIES PILE HIGH'

    Boris Johnson's former adviser Dominic Cummings confirmed on Wednesday that he had heard the prime minister say "let the bodies pile high" when discussing whether he should lock down Britain again late last year.

    Johnson has denied reports he had would rather "let the bodies pile high", but asked whether he had heard the prime minister say those words, Cumming replied: "Yes," confirming a report by the BBC.

    "I heard that in the prime minister's study," he told a parliamentary committee.

  • [email protected]Today, 15:40

    CUMMINGS SAYS BORIS JOHNSON LIKES THE CHAOS

    Dominic Cummings said he had decided to leave Downing Street by the end of 2020 because the system was too chaotic.

    Speaking to the Science and Health select committees, Cummings said he told Boris Johnson he was leaving just before he was due to have an operation in the summer.

    When asked why he was leaving he said he the system in No 10 was too chaotic and he could not put together the team to fix it.

    He said he told the PM: “You are more frightened of me having the power to stop the chaos than the chaos itself”.

    The former adviser said Johnson then laughed and agreed, saying: “Chaos is not that bad, chaos means everyone has to look to me to sort it out”.

  • [email protected]Today, 15:30

    'WHO DO WE NOT SAVE?'

  • [email protected]Today, 15:20

    DOMINIC CUMMINGS' EVIDENCE: SOME OF THE KEY CLAIMS SO FAR

    • Official inquiry needs to be held sooner as 'tens of thousands of people died who did not need to die'
    • Boris Johnson compared the virus to swine flu and suggested he should be injected with Covid-19 live on TV to prove it was not dangerous
    • Cummings told PM he must fire Matt Hancock for lying on multiple occasions including telling Cabinet people who would be tested before being sent back to care homes
    • 'Lions led by donkeys' – there were great people working on the response but the top leadership were not up to the job
    • There was no 'sense of urgency' about the pandemic until late February
    • Former adviser said he drove hundreds of miles to Durham while suffering from Covid because of security threats to his family

    CUMMINGS: 'COMPLETE NONSENSE' TO CLAIM COVID SHIELD WAS PUT AROUND CARE HOMES

    The Government sent hospital patients with Covid-19 back to care homes and suggestions they were shielded are "complete nonsense", Dominic Cummings has said.

    Boris Johnson's former chief adviser suggested the Prime Minister was furious when he came back to work after recovering from coronavirus to find that untested patients had been discharged to care homes in England, thereby allowing the virus to spread.

    He said Health Secretary Matt Hancock had told Mr Johnson previously that they would be tested.

    Cummings told MPs: "So that was one of the other things that I, that we, found shocking, that when we realised in April that this had happened, the Prime Minister said a less polite version of 'what on earth are you telling me?'.

    "When he came back after being ill: 'What on earth has happened with all these people in care homes? Hancock told us in the Cabinet Room that people were going to be tested before they went back to care homes, what the hell happened?"'

    “COMPLETELY CRACKERS” THAT PM WAS IN CHARGE

    Dominic Cummings said it was “completely crackers” Boris Johnson was in charge and that thousands of people in the country could provide better leadership than the Prime Minister.

    Cummings said the fact that the public had to choose between Mr Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn in the 2019 election meant it was clear that the electoral system had “gone extremely, extremely badly wrong”.

    “There’s so many thousands and thousands of wonderful people in this country who could provide better leadership than either of those two,” he said.

    “And there’s obviously something terribly wrong with the political parties if that’s the best that they can do.”

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