Where Cummings’s attacks leave the cabinet

Today’s papers are filled with the numerous allegations levelled against Boris Johnson by Dominic Cummings during his seven hour appearance in front of MPs. The Prime Minister’s former top aide didn’t hold back in his critique, suggesting voters had been offered a poor choice at the 2019 election between Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn. Cummings said he believed Johnson was unfit to lead and had been too distracted by his personal life in the early stages of the pandemic when he should have been taking the virus more seriously. He concluded that government mistakes meant tens of thousands of people died ‘who didn’t need to die’. 

Unsurprisingly, Cummings is persona non grata in No. 10 these days, with aides told to have no contact with their former colleague. But what Cummings had to say about various ministers still has the potential to unsettle government inter-relations. On top of the criticism of Johnson, Cummings found time to turn his ire on certain ministers while praising others.