Politics

Cummings slates Government, Johnson, and Hancock

Published

5 years ago

May 28, 2021

“THE TRUTH is that senior ministers, senior officials, senior advisers like me fell disastrously short of the standards that the public has a right to expect of its Government in a crisis like this.

“When the public needed us most, the Government failed.

“I would like to say to all the families of those who died unnecessarily how sorry I am for themistakes that were made and for my own mistakes at that.”

Dominic Cummings’ opening statement to the Covid-19: Lessons Learned Committee of the House of Commons is an attention-grabbing one.

The rest of his evidence was no less damning of Westminster’s response in the early days of the pandemic.

It revealed a government in which discussions at Cobra meetings, supposedly the most secure and confidential of briefings, were routinely leaked to the media. It showed a PM who went away on holiday as the crisis broke. The Government failed to follow the logic of the science presented to it and took weeks to understand the pandemic’s capacity to overwhelm the NHS.

And – as Mr Cummings said – ‘unbelievably’ we have a government whose response to the crisis at a critical time was put on the back burner to deal with a complaint by the PM’s fiancé about a disobliging story about her dog.

CUMMINGS HAS PAPER TRAIL

Suppose Mr Cummings, like so many others, made his assertion without a paper trail. In that case, his remarks could be interpreted as so much self-serving nonsense and a study in revenge. However, he has the paperwork, the email trail, the journal entries, the secret WhatsApp chats to back up his account.

His story got extra heft by his clear expression of regret that he had not obtained an independent view of the Government’s data earlier. When he did deliver data to those outside Downing Street, the extent of the crisis became apparent.

He made it clear the Government could have got better insight sooner and taken steps towards lockdown six weeks before it did.

The Prime Minister maintained ‘this new swine-flu thing’ was less of a risk than economic damage from overreaction throughout February, even as infections and deaths escalated.

However, the data was wrong. According to Mr Cummings, had the models been checked against live data from Intensive Care Units concerning Covid infections, it would’ve been evident the models presented to the Government and upon which it based its decisions were totally flawed.

NO PLANNING

In a withering assessment, Dominic Cummings said the more people criticised the plan, or lack of one, the more people on the inside believed their critics lacked knowledge.

If there’d been proper scrutiny and interrogation of what Ministers were being told, “we would have figured out at least six weeks earlier that there was an alternative plan”.

The original plan, he said, was “complete garbage”.

More than that, the Department of Health’s ‘plan’ amounted to no more than a press release.

The Department of Health was ’a smoking ruin’, he claimed. There was no plan for shielding, support, emergency procurement. The Department of Health failed to appreciate the size of the crisis and stuck to its normal procurement channels until it was almost out of PPE. The Department of Health refused to buy ventilators because their price had risen.

He suggested a proposal – seriously advanced for consideration – that people hold the equivalent of ‘chickenpox parties’ was met with disbelief by scientists who had to point out that chickenpox was not killing hundreds of thousand people worldwide.

Matt Hancock: Accused of lying to colleagues and the public

HANCOCK BRANDED A LIAR

Dominic Cummings turned personal fire onto Matt Hancock, who remains the Secretary of State for Health.

He accused Mr Hancock of lying and that the Health Secretary’s conduct merited his instant dismissal.

He had earlier mentioned the Health Secretary’s denial that the Government pursued a herd immunity policy that formed a vital element of the Government’s then-approach.

Dominic Cummings said Matt Hancock “for lying to everybody in multiple occasions in meeting after meeting in the cabinet room and publicly”.

Crucially, Mr Cummings said the Cabinet Secretary (Mark Sedwill, the UK’s most senior civil servant) told him and the Prime Minister that he did not trust Matt Hancock to be truthful. He had notes of the meeting in which that remark was made.

Mark Sedwill, Mr Cummings claimed, told Boris Johnson that the cabinet system was not set up to deal with a minister like Matt Hancock, who – he alleged Mr Sedwill said – repeatedly lied in meetings.

He alleged Mr Hancock deliberately delayed implementing a proper track and trace system to meet an arbitrary testing target.

Like the Mayor in Jaws: Media-obsessed PM didn’t stop foreign travel

JOHNSON DUCKS THE QUESTIONS

As the Committee took a break, Prime Minister’s Questions opened in the House of Commons.

Asked about Dominic Cummings’ evidence, the Prime Minister failed to deny key allegations from it when asked by opposition leader Kier Starmer.

Instead, Boris Johnson deflected the questions by referring to a public inquiry. Mr Johnson refused to give a date for that inquiry’s start.

Mr Johnson seemed to decide poking the hornets’ nest would invite further disclosures from Mr Cummings, more damning than the testimony already given.

The picture Mr Cummings painted was chaos at the heart of Government, institutional complacency, lack of expertise in the key departments, and – tellingly – a Prime Minister and Cabinet with only a tenuous grasp on the urgency of the situation.

Given a chance to plan for different scenarios and allocate adequate resources, the Prime Minister and other key ministers preferred to look on the sunny side, hope for the best, and expect something to turn up.

The PM took his opportunity to have a holiday.

Nothing Mr Cummings said was more telling than his revelation that the reason the UK did not enter lockdown sooner was the Government – including the civil service – did not have a plan. The part of the civil service supposed to deal with civil emergencies couldn’t cope because it lacked expertise in the response it was supposed to handle. Planning was always based on a peak of the virus twelve weeks in the future from the date of any meeting.

The pandemic’s first wave peaked in late April. The Government, as late as March 14, planned for a peak in June.

JOHNSON LIKE THE MAYOR IN JAWS

Mr Cummings’ account of a shielding plan drawn up over two all-night brainstorming sessions after the lockdown’s announcement was hair-raising. At the eleventh hour it emerged the UK hadn’t taken account of vulnerable groups’ protection.

As the pandemic raged and demands made to put a brake on overseas travel, Dominic Cummings claimed the PM didn’t want one. He painted a picture of a media-obsessed Boris Johnson swayed by press campaigns against taking preventative action.

Mr Cummings explained Mr Johnson’s behaviour was like the Mayor’s in Jaws. He wanted to keep the beach open, even as the shark ate the swimmers.

On a broader topic, Dominic Cummings criticised a ‘crackers’ political system that allowed people like him and Boris Johnson to exercise such power during an emergency when they were unqualified to deal with one.

Mr Cummings’ tarter observations about the ability of the UK’s political parties included a stinging attack on how political parties select and support their leaders.

To summarise his view: he suggested the problem with the political system in this country is that voters had a choice between people like Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson at the last election.

He concluded from that statement that the parties need to look at themselves to find out why they put ‘that sort of person’ forward for office.

That’s an issue beyond the current inquiry’s scope. ‘Teflon Al Johnson’ will be very grateful it is after Wednesday’s hearing.

News

New Welsh Government urged to end ‘injustice’ of term-time only pay

Published

8 hours ago

May 18, 2026

Tom Sinclair

SCHOOL support staff in Wales are being pushed into poverty by “unfair” term-time only contracts, UNISON Cymru has warned.

The union is calling on the new Welsh Government to scrap the practice and establish a new body to negotiate pay for school support workers.

The call will be made at the TUC Cymru Congress in Llandudno today, Tuesday (May 19), where UNISON Cymru regional secretary Jess Turner will move a motion on the issue.

She will say: “Thousands of school support staff, mainly women, are trapped in poverty because of the unfairness of term-time only pay.

“Teaching assistants, cleaners, catering staff and admin workers support children and keep schools running, but many struggle to pay bills and have to take on second jobs just to survive.

“One in six school support staff in Wales has used a food bank. Many earn less across the year than they would on a full-time minimum wage job because they’re only paid when schools are open.

“This is a real opportunity for Wales to do things differently and reward people fairly. Ministers need to set up a body that can negotiate pay for school staff and end the injustice of term-time only pay.”

UNISON says evidence gathered from school support staff across Wales shows widespread financial hardship linked to term-time only contracts.

The union will also host a fringe event at the congress on Wednesday (May 20), calling for action on term-time only pay and further investment in public services.

Community

Health chiefs to be questioned over Withybush hospital service changes

Published

12 hours ago

May 18, 2026

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

HEALTH BOARD members are to be quizzed by Pembrokeshire councillors next month over changes to services at Withybush Hospital.

At the March meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, an emergency notice of motion by the council’s 11-strong Conservative Party group demanded that the Welsh Government immediately reverses the decision to cease emergency general surgery at Withybush Hospital.

Last year, Hywel Dda University Health Board consulted with its communities on options for change in critical care, dermatology, emergency general surgery, endoscopy, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, stroke, radiology and urology.

At a two-day meeting earlier this year, the board, amongst its many other decisions, backed changes into emergency general surgery which will see no emergency general surgery operations taking place at Withybush, but a strengthening of the same-day emergency care (SDEC).

At the March council meeting, the Conservative council group, led by Cllr Di Clements, proposed a motion which read: “This council requests that the Labour Welsh Government intervenes in Hywel Dda University Health Board’s recent decision to cease emergency general surgery at Withybush hospital and immediately reverses their decision.

“We believe removing this service critically undermines the sustainability of Withybush hospital’s A&E department.

“Also, the decision by the Health Board does not take into account the impact and potential serious risks it will have on Pembrokeshire residents.”

Cllr Clements’ supporting statement, which included a call for the-then Leader Cllr Jon Harvery to write to the First Minister and Welsh Government, said Pembrokeshire residents “have seen continual downgrading of services over the years, and this has been detrimental to all residents,” adding: “We believe this recent decision is life threatening to those who need emergency surgery and a matter of resident’s safety.”

At the meeting, Cllr Michael John said “there had been an erosion of services for many years,” supporting Cllr Clements’ call, but proposing the addition of calling on the health board to meet with councillors.

Following the request by Cllr Clements, Leader Cllr Jon Harvey agreed to any letter writing, saying he had “fought long and hard to return services to Withybush”.

Members backed Cllr Clements’ call, with Cllr John’s amendment added.

Since then an update was received at the May 14 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council.

A report for members said, following the March meeting, Cllr Harvey, wrote to the-then First Minister Eluned Morgan on March 10, with Chief Executive Will Bramble also writing to the chief executive of Hywel Dda University Health Board advising him of council’s decision on the same date, requesting his and the Board chair’s attendance at the May council meeting.

It said, since then, Health Board Chair Dr Neil Wooding and Chief Executive Professor Phil Kloer have agreed to attend an Extraordinary Meeting of the council on June 15 to brief the council on service changes and specifically the issue of emergency general surgery, with members having the opportunity to ask questions on the presentation.

Members agreed to note the report ahead of the special June meeting.

Education

New special education centre to be built in Milford Haven

Published

13 hours ago

May 18, 2026

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

APPROVAL for a consultation for a special resource centre for pupils with complex needs when the new Milford Haven primary school is built was backed by councillors.

At the May 14 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, members were asked to back a consultation on a proposal to establish a Learning Resource Centre (LRC) for pupils with Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) and Complex Learning Needs at Milford Haven Community Primary School.

The establishment of an LRC forms part of the outline business case for the redevelopment of schools in Milford Haven.

A report for members said: “A Learning Resource Centre (LRC) is a classroom-based provision within a mainstream school for pupils with complex needs.

“A LRC provides pupils with a broad and balanced curriculum that is highly differentiated, to support them in achieving their full potential and at the same time offering pupils the opportunity to be part of mainstream activities and lessons to socialise with their peers whilst their individual needs are supported and met.

“Generally, LRCs are strategically located to minimise travelling time for pupils. There are currently 10 primary and five Secondary LRCs across Pembrokeshire.”

Primary LRCs in Pembrokeshire are at: Ysgol Glannau Gwaun, Waldo Williams, Fenton, Gelliswick, Monkton, Tenby, Johnston, Pembroke Dock, Neyland, and Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi.

Secondary LRC provisions are located in three areas: North Pembrokeshire – based in Ysgol Bro Gwaun, Fishguard, and Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi, St Davids; South Pembrokeshire – based in Ysgol Harri Tudur, Pembroke, and Ysgol Greenhill, Tenby; Mid Pembrokeshire – based at the Pembrokeshire Learning Centre, Neyland.

The council resolved back in 2019 to establish a LRC at Milford Haven Secondary School, which will replace the current provision at the Pembrokeshire Learning Centre (PLC).

The report added: “Within the Strategic Outline Case for the redevelopment of the Milford Haven schools, provision has already been made for a purpose built 36-place LRC within the new secondary school, replacing the existing provision at the PLC as part of the rolling programme.

“Establishing a 24-place LRC within the proposed primary school on the same site would further enhance local specialist provision and would deliver improved standards of accommodation for pupils with ALN through dedicated, purpose-built facilities designed in accordance with the Welsh Government’s latest area guidelines.

“Milford Haven Community Primary School represents an optimal location for the establishment of a new LRC. The school is the largest feeder to Milford Haven Secondary School and the co-location of primary and secondary provision on a single site creates a clear and coherent pathway for learners with additional learning needs.”

It went on to say the 24-place LRC would account for some £2.6m of the overall projected £143m cost of the overall Milford Haven Schools Redevelopment; the 24-place LRC would receive £316,000 of funding a year.

Approval was moved by Cllr Guy Woodham, backed by Cllr Aled Thomas, and unanimously supported by members.