Cummings’ evidence reveals “chaos” at top of government, says Ashworth

Jonathan Ashworth has said that the evidence given today by former political adviser to Boris Johnson Dominic Cummings on the handling of the response to the pandemic has revealed “chaos” at the top of the government.

Commenting on the select committee sessions today, during which Cummings heavily criticised Matt Hancock, the Shadow Health Secretary argued the Health Secretary must come to parliament on Thursday to answer the allegations.

“What we’ve heard today from Dominic Cummings is a shocking testimony revealing chaos, lack of grip, incompetence and an abdication of leadership at the very top of government when we were facing the very biggest emergency since the Second World War,” Ashworth said this afternoon.

“He’s made some very grave allegations against Matt Hancock, which on the face of it look well-founded. Matt Hancock must come to the House of Commons tomorrow and explain what he did to protect care homes, because so many people did die in care homes.

“What he did to get the personal protective equipment to the frontline, what he did on testing and tracing because it didn’t work – still doesn’t work to this day. These are serious allegations, which Matt Hancock now needs to give us an explanation for if the public is to maintain confidence in him.”

Cummings gave evidence to the science and health select committees today in sessions that lasted for longer than seven hours, telling MPs that he said Hancock should have been sacked “almost every day” for alleged “criminal” behaviour.

The former political adviser told the committees that the Health Secretary lied on a number of occasions. He alleged Hancock blamed NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens and Rishi Sunak for having “blocked approvals” for PPE in the crisis.

Cummings said he told Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill to investigate this particular claim and that Sedwill reported that it was “completely untrue”, meaning he had “lost confidence in the Secretary of State’s honesty in these meetings”.

The Health Secretary should have been fired for “at least 15 to 20 things, including lying to everybody on multiple occasions”, the committees heard. Cummings said he, Sedwill and other senior officials had urged Johnson to do so.

The former political adviser alleged that the Prime Minister had been advised not to sack the Health Secretary “because he’s the person you fire when the [public] inquiry comes along”.

He argued that there is “no doubt at all that many senior people performed far, far disastrously below the standards which the country expects” and told the committee members this afternoon that Hancock was “one of those people”.

Cummings also said Hancock lied when he claimed that “everyone who needed treatment got the treatment they required” over the summer last year: “He knew that was a lie because he’d been briefed by the chief scientific adviser and the chief medical officer himself 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.”

Keir Starmer challenged Johnson over the evidence, which was still being given to the committee at the time, during PMQs earlier today, including the claim that Johnson argued “Covid is only killing 80-year-olds” when delaying lockdown.

Asked whether the Cabinet Secretary and Cummings had told the Prime Minister to sack Hancock, Johnson said it was untrue and he had not seen any evidence of that. His spokesperson later said Johnson has “full confidence” in Hancock.

Cummings said Johnson was “unfit” for office because he refused to order a lockdown. He alleged that Johnson did say he would rather let the “bodies pile high” than order a third lockdown last year. Johnson has denied saying this.

The Prime Minister’s former political adviser said his relationship with Johnson “took another terrible dive” after the second national lockdown in October because Johnson “knew I blamed him for the whole situation”.

Cummings caused outrage during the height of the health crisis when he broke public health Covid restrictions and travelled to a second home and Barnard Castle with his family. The political adviser departed his role at the end of last year.

Ashworth has secured an urgent question in the House of Commons. Hancock has frequently sent ministers in his place to answer urgent questions on his behalf, including earlier this week, but is expected to appear in parliament on Thursday.