A former top adviser has once again embarrassed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Dominic Cummings leaked information from a WhatsApp conversation with his former boss, according to British media.
He would have described his health minister at the beginning of last year as “totally fucking hopeless”: a hopeless figure.
Cummings used to be Johnson’s right-hand man but reportedly left last year with doors slamming. He subsequently emerged as an outspoken critic of the government and is not afraid to disclose sensitive information. He tries to portray his ex-boss as an untrustworthy charlatan and says he wants to debunk the “lies” of the government by leaking information.
The ex-advisor argues, among other things, that the government has made a mess of the corona policy. This time, Health Minister Matt Hancock has to pay the price. In the leaked conversation, apparently with the Prime Minister, Cummings complained that Hancock is failing to deliver on commitments to ramp up testing capacity. Johnson makes no mistake about it afterwards.
The prime minister seems to confirm in another conversation that the situation around the availability of personal protective equipment, such as mouth masks, is “disastrous”. Many countries struggled with this at the start of the pandemic. Johnson suggests that Hancock can be removed from the file and asks the question, “What the hell are we supposed to do?”