Health department’s Covid response was an ‘absolute total disaster’, says Dominic Cummings March 17, 2021 The health department’s initial response in the early days of the Covid pandemic was an “absolute total disaster”, Dominic Cummings has told MPs. The Prime Minister’s former chief aide added that the health department was a “smoking ruin in terms of procurement and PPE”. “Obviously last year we saw that the Department for Health had [...]
Cummings to leave Downing Street with immediate effect November 13, 2020 Boris Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings is leaving Downing Street immediately. Cummings will continue to work until mid-December, and another senior aide will serve as temporary chief of staff, Johnson’s office said on Friday. “The Prime Minister has today asked Sir Edward Lister to take on the role of chief of staff for an interim [...]
Treasury advisor sacked by Dominic Cummings wins five-figure payout November 13, 2020 A former government aide who was fired by Boris Johnson’s top advisor Dominic Cummings will receive a five-figure settlement from the government. Sonia Khan, who worked as a media adviser for the Treasury, had been sacked by Cummings in August of last year. She was “frogmarched” out of Downing Street by police, according to a [...]
Dominic Cummings ‘set to resign’ by end of the year November 13, 2020 Boris Johnson’s top advisor Dominic Cummings is expected to resign from his role in Downing Street by the end of the year. Transport secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News this morning: “As he [Cummings] wrote right at the beginning of the year in his own words, he planned to make himself largely redundant this year [...]
Former Vote Leave spokesperson tipped as Number 10’s new chief of staff November 11, 2020 Boris Johnson is poised to appoint his current head of communications and former Vote Leave spokesperson as Number 10’s chief of staff, according to reports. Lee Cain, who headed up the Vote Leave campaign alongside Johnson’s aide Dominic Cummings during the Brexit referendum is set to be promoted to one of Downing Street’s top jobs, [...]
Exclusive: MPs warn over scrutiny as Downing Street prepares to ‘anoint’ friendly face in key role February 26, 2020 Downing Street is considering a controversial move to appoint its own chair of a powerful parliamentary committee – subverting parliamentary convention. The move would be seen as the latest attempt by Number 10 to avoid scrutiny after recent brouhahas over journalists’ access to key briefings. The chair of the Liaison Committee – the only committee [...]
Dominic Cummings’ war on conventions is just getting going February 19, 2020 Much is being made of Dominic Cummings’ supposed overreach this week. His attack on the BBC proved so brutal that even Auntie-sceptic John Whittingdale blanched, while one of Number 10’s newly-hired “weirdos and misfits” had voiced his support for marital rape and sympathy for eugenics in online forums. Andrew Sabinsky’s Downing Street career lasted just [...]
A tip for Dominic Cummings: Don’t hire anyone who fails to grasp the power of incentives January 15, 2020 The job advert issued by Dominic Cummings for people to work in government has attracted a wide range of comments. One particular focus has been on the sorts of skills he is looking for. Computer science, forecasting, artificial intelligence, causality theory — all these topics excite his interest. Cummings advocates a small selection of scientific [...]
Time to cull the ministers who sit around the cabinet table January 15, 2020 Walter Bagehot, one of the fathers of our modern constitutional structure, believed that the cabinet was the “efficient secret” of the British state. But what if the institution is now too large to run the country efficiently? I agree with the assessment from chief Number 10 aide Dominic Cummings that the cabinet as it stands [...]
DEBATE: Is it time to reform the civil service, as Dominic Cummings intends? December 19, 2019 Is it time for a full restructuring of the civil service, as Dominic Cummings intends? YES, says Duncan Simpson, research director at the TaxPayers’ Alliance. The “Rolls Royce” reputation of the civil service has long been in question. From hugely overpriced procurements in defence and transport, to overly-anxious advice on EU exit negotiations, the supposed [...]