Dominic Cummings swears and strops at Covid Inquiry but Rishi Sunak escapes unscathed

The man best known for Barnard Castle took a scorched earth approach, with one notable escapee.

Dominic Cummings used his Covid Inquiry appearance to lash out at seemingly everyone he worked with, in an event that should shame the UK Government.

Having lead the charge to get Boris Johnson elected, helped engineer Brexit, and guide the Covid response, Mr Cummings has now rebranded as a brave outsider, lashing out at a culture he had no say or responsibility for, as the former chief of staff to the Prime Minister.

In a session that saw more uses of profanity than the Thick Of It, we heard how he called ministers “morons, and c***s”, claimed Matt Hancock’s decisions were killing people, and that the Covid response was “appalling”, with Mr Johnson incapable of making decisions. Having known him for years and presumably seen he wrote columns arguing either side on Brexit, this was somehow a surprise to Mr Cummings.

What followed was a six hour session of learning all the horrible things we’d been led to believe about the UK Government’s response to the pandemic weren’t true, it was actually so much worse.

Mr Cummings highlighted that the impact of lockdown on vulnerable groups such as domestic abuse victims was neglected entirely, there was no shielding plan, and so useless was the Prime Minister there was “generally” no benefit to having him speak to the devolved administrations.

He argued the cabinet office was unfit for purpose, Mr Johnson was unsuitable for the job, Mr Hancock was a liar who should be sacked, and seemingly the whole response was a disaster he had no involvement in.The session was a masterclass in deflection, with even the infamous Barnard Castle trip being a negative, but only because of how the UK Government responded to it. Confronted with his own misogynistic language, where he discussed “dodging stilettos from that c***”, referring to a civil servant, Mr Cummings insisted it wasn’t misogynistic, because he is just as rude about men.

Despite a refusal to engage with his own failures, his testimony was damning, powerful, and highlighted failures of Government anyone truly invested in better outcomes would have done more to highlight at the time.

However, speaking to Tory MPs in the aftermath, it is clear they are less than bothered by his comments, with one saying it proves what they already know. As one MP put it, the evidence “shows Boris Johnson was unfit for Government, Cummings was horrible”. They don’t see these as new revelations to damage the Government, just further proof of what they already know.

More than one was also keen to put out who was not mentioned, specifically the general lack of criticism for Rishi Sunak. Indeed, Mr Cummings comment that “only the Treasury was running properly” has reassured Tory circles, who see the new regime as something entirely different. They also stress while Mr Cummings has come up on the doorstep this week, it’s only as he gave evidence during it.

It may be that a reckoning comes for Mr Sunak, with Eat Out To Help Out very much Chekhov's Gun to the inquiry. But he has escaped unscathed so far, allowing Tory MPs, for the first time in a long time, to feel a sense of hope.