London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2025

Dominic Cummings: The seven most explosive claims

Dominic Cummings: The seven most explosive claims

Boris Johnson's former chief adviser Dominic Cummings has made a series of explosive claims about mistakes made by the government during the Covid pandemic.

During a seven-hour joint session of the Commons Heath, and Science and Technology committees, Mr Cummings made a number of allegations - here are the key points.

1. The government 'failed'


"Tens of thousands of people died, who didn't need to die," Mr Cummings said.

Earlier, he said sorry for ministers, officials and advisers "like me" for falling "disastrously short of the standards that the public has a right to expect".

"When the public needed us most the government failed," he added, apologising to "the families of those who died unnecessarily".

Mr Cummings said the government was not on a "war footing" when the virus emerged in January and February last year and "lots of key people were literally skiing".

2. PM 'not fit for office'


Mr Cummings made a series of allegations against his former boss Boris Johnson, including:

*  He dismissed the emerging coronavirus as "the new swine flu" and "just a scare story" - and pledged to be injected "live on TV with the virus so everyone realises it's nothing to be frightened of'"

*  He was a "thousand times too obsessed with the media" and appeared to be persuaded by the Daily Telegraph's view of events on any given day

*  He said he would rather see "bodies pile high" than order a third lockdown in the autumn of 2020, seeming to confirm a BBC report and contradict the prime minister's denials

Describing a decline in his relationship with Mr Johnson after the summer of 2020, he said "it was clear in July that our relations were very far from where they had been".

He added: "They took another terrible dive after the second lockdown in October because the prime minister knew that I blamed him for the whole situation - and I did - and by 31 October our relations were essentially already finished...

"The heart of the problem was, fundamentally, I regarded him as unfit for the job. And I was trying to create a structure around him to try and stop what I thought would have been bad decisions, and push things through against his wishes."

Asked later by Labour MP Sarah Owen whether Boris Johnson was a "fit and proper person to get us through this pandemic", Mr Cummings replied: "No."

Downing Street rejected many of the remarks and Mr Johnson insisted his government at "every stage tried to minimise loss of life".

3. Hancock 'should have been fired'


Mr Cummings appeared to reserve his harshest criticism for Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

Mr Hancock "should have been fired for at least 15 to 20 things", Mr Cummings said, as he alleged the health secretary:

*  Displayed "criminal, disgraceful behaviour" as he held back coronavirus tests and meddled in efforts to build a mass testing system in order to meet a "stupid" pledge of 100,000 tests per day in April 2020

*  Lied during meetings held in the Downing Street cabinet room, including about testing people before they were discharged from hospital into care homes during the first wave

*  Used the UK's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and chief medical adviser Chris Whitty as a "shield" for government failings at Downing Street news conferences

*  Mr Cummings and the UK's then most senior civil servant Sir Mark Sedwill recommended to the prime minister that Mr Hancock be sacked in April 2020

*  The prime minister did not sack Mr Hancock because some felt he would be a convenient fall guy during any future public inquiry

A spokesman for Mr Hancock later said: "We absolutely reject Mr Cummings' claims about the health secretary."

Mr Hancock added he had not seen Mr Cummings' evidence to MPs in full "and instead I've been dealing with getting the vaccination rollout going, especially to over-30s, and saving lives".

He said he would make a statement in the Commons on Thursday when he would "have more to say".

4. First lockdown delay


Mr Cummings said it was "obvious" in retrospect that the UK should have locked down in the first week of March at the latest - and it was a "huge failure" on his part not to alert the prime minister.

"I bitterly regret that I didn't hit the emergency panic button earlier then I did," he added.

Mr Cummings said that, on 14 March, Boris Johnson had been told that models showing the peak of infections was "weeks and weeks and weeks away" in June were "completely wrong".

Mr Cummings said that meeting came after the then deputy cabinet secretary, Helen MacNamara, relayed concerns that there was "no plan... we're in huge trouble".

He said the PM was warned: "The NHS is going to be smashed in weeks. Really we've got days to act."

Mr Johnson announced a national lockdown nine days later on the evening of 23 March.

5. Bombs, quarantine... and Dilyn


Mr Cummings painted a vivid picture of the chaotic atmosphere in Downing Street on one "crazy" day in March 2020 when the government was considering a national lockdown - at the same time as officials considered a bombing campaign in Iraq.

One morning, he claimed, the "national security people came in" and said "[US President Donald] Trump wants us to join a bombing campaign in the Middle East tonight" and this "totally derailed" meetings about quarantine and the coronavirus.

At the same time, he said, "the prime minister's girlfriend was going completely crackers" over a story in Times newspaper with the headline "Downing St dog to be reshuffled".

The article reported a Whitehall source as saying they were not sure Carrie Symonds' dog Dilyn would "make it through the next reshuffle" due to the mess he had created in her and Mr Johnson's No 11 flat.

Mr Cummings said: "So, we have this sort of completely insane situation in which part of the building was saying, 'are we going to bomb Iraq?', part of the building was arguing about whether or not we're going to do quarantine or not do quarantine, the prime minister has his girlfriend going crackers about something completely trivial."

6. 'Chicken pox parties'


Mr Cummings said that, as late as 12 March last year, the UK's top civil servant championed a plan of rapid herd immunity involving "chicken pox parties" for the virus.

Then cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill is alleged to have suggested to Mr Johnson: "Prime minister, you should go on TV tomorrow and explain the herd immunity plan and that it is like the old chicken pox parties. We need people to get this disease because that's how we get herd immunity by September."

But Mr Cummings said he told him not to use the analogy, which was "not right", as - according to data expert Ben Warner - Covid was "spreading exponentially and killing hundreds of thousands of people".

7. PM 'ignored' second lockdown advice


Asked about more recent decisions over a second lockdown in the autumn of 2020, Mr Cummings alleged Mr Johnson rejected a recommendation last September for a shorter stay-at-home order in England.

"He was ignoring the advice," he added, saying the prime minister believed he had been pushed into imposing the first one and that the economic harm done by lockdown would be worse than Covid itself.

He added: "All credible serious people in my opinion were saying essentially the same thing so I was very, very clear with him about it.

"He wasn't taking any advice, he was just making his own decisions, he was going to ignore the advice. Cabinet wasn't involved or asked.

"I've been very critical of Matt Hancock but I think Hancock agreed with me actually in September about acting then."


"Tens of thousands of people died who didn't need to die", Dominic Cummings told MPs


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
×