Now NHS chief Simon Stevens squirms and REFUSES to say if he thinks Matt Hancock is 'hopeless' as Cummings claims Health Secretary 'tried to throw Stevens under the bus'
Sir Simon refused to give Mr Hancock support when he was pressed by Sky News political editor Beth Rigby if he has confidence in the Health Secretary's ability, having worked with him during the pandemic. After an awkward pause, the NHS boss smirked then said: 'I mean, that is a political question'. Responding to the clip on Twitter, Mr Cummings claimed that Sir Simon 'remembers very well' a meeting while Boris Johnson recovered from coronavirus in Chequers when Mr Hancock 'tried to throw him under the bus' over the PPE scandal which dominated the early part of the crisis.
Dominic Cummings brands Boris Johnson a ‘gaffe machine’ who is ‘clueless about policy’
Boris Johnson’s spin doctors did not put him up for an interview with Andrew Neil at the general election because he is a “gaffe machine”, Dominic Cummings has claimed.
During the 2019 December election, the PM refused to be interviewed by veteran broadcaster Andrew Neil who was at the BBC at the time.
Mr Neil, who is now chairman of GB News, challenged Mr Johnson, saying it was “a question of trust” for the Prime Minister.
Mr Cummings, the PM’s former top aide, has now revealed the apparent communications strategy behind the decision, claiming the PM was “clueless about policy”.
During a rant about political pundits on Friday, Mr Cummings tweeted: “Why the f*** would [we] put a gaffe machine clueless about policy & government up to be grilled for ages, upside=0 for what?!
Exclusive: Matt Hancock kept Boris Johnson in dark over Covid vaccines success
The Telegraph understands that the Health Secretary had known about the PHE data three days before the "quad" of four senior ministers, led by the Prime Minister, met last Sunday to decide whether to postpone the planned June 21 reopening until July 19.
However, multiple sources familiar with the meeting said it was not raised by Mr Hancock or discussed at all during the course of the talks.
The data was also not included in briefing papers given to Mr Johnson, Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor and Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, in advance of the meeting.
The bombshell disclosure raises the possibility that the quad could have opted to press ahead with lifting the restrictions on Monday if they had been aware of the study, which showed that both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines were more effective at preventing hospitalisation with the variant than they were against previous strains.
Boris Johnson repeatedly lied over pledge to stop Troubles prosecutions, former defence minister claims
Boris Johnson repeatedly lied over a pledge to stop Troubles prosecutions, his former defence minister has told the Court of Appeal in a case brought by a dying Northern Ireland veteran.
Johnny Mercer, who was sacked as veterans’ minister, has turned star witness in a case that threatens to cause the prime minister and other senior ministers deep embarrassment over their treatment of former troops who served in Northern Ireland.
Lawyers for Dennis Hutchings, an 80-year-old veteran charged with attempted murder over the death of a man 48 years aho, have submitted to the Court of Appeal a 21-page witness statement from Mr Mercer, a Conservative MP.
Mr Hutchings has brought a legal claim against the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, claiming veterans are being discriminated against over historic killings during the Troubles.
Downing Street decision-making is ‘blind leading blind’, says Dominic Cummings
…
Dominic Cummings has said Downing Street is dominated by “the blind leading the blind” and if the public could see how decisions were made, “everyone would sell everything and head for the bunker in the hills”.
Matt Hancock says ‘it doesn’t matter’ that PM called him ‘f****** hopeless’
Matt Hancock has again sought to downplay Boris Johnson's claim that he was “f****** hopeless” at the start of the pandemic, insisting the remark was made during a “challenging and frustrating period” and adding: “It doesn’t matter.”
Dominic Cummings kicks Matt Hancock while he's down and reveals text to PM warning Health Secretary's failures meant 'we are negligently killing the most vulnerable' in care homes'
As Mr Hancock faced calls to resign or be fired today over an affair with an aide, Mr Cummings, a former adviser to Boris Johnson, dropped yet more behind-the-scenes evidence from his time in No10.
Boris Johnson told adviser Matt Hancock’s test and trace plans were ‘whistling in the dark’
Boris Johnson said that Matt Hancock’s efforts to set up a track and trace system last spring were “whistling in the dark”internal government messages leaked by former adviser Dominic Cummings.
In a frank email exchange on 26 April 2020, Mr Johnson told his adviser he was concerned that the UK could end up with “the double distinction of being the European country with the most fatalities and the biggest economic hit”.
And the PM said that efforts to trace contacts of Covid patients appeared to involve “legions of imaginary Clouseaus” - a reference to the bungling Pink Panther detective played by Peter Sellers.
A week later on 3 May, Cummings told Johnson in a text message that the failure to keep Covid out of care homes meant that “at the moment I think we are negligently killing the most vulnerable who we are suposed to be shielding”.
Mr Johnson made no attempt to dispute this assertion in his reply, instead asking for the latest figures on infections.
Inventing a new word to describe the impact of the health secretary’s performance, Mr Cummings said the UK had been “Hancocked”.
“Our political institutions systematically... promote Hancocks and systematically block learning from high performance, which is seen as a dangerous menace by normal bureaucracies,” he wrote.
“Thus we get Hancocked.”
Labour said the comments showed that the prime minister had lost confidence in Mr Hancock’s handling of the coronavirus crisis as early as the spring of last year and said it was “astounding” that the health secretary kept his job.
Dominic Cummings savages Sajid Javid – his insulting tweet explained
Dominic Cummings @Dominic2306 · 14h So Carrie appoints Saj! NB If I hadn't tricked PM into firing Saj, we'd have had a HMT with useless SoS/spads, no furlough scheme, total chaos instead of JOINT 10/11 team which was a big success. Saj = bog standard = chasing headlines + failing = awful for NHS. Need #RegimeChange
Comments
https://video.dailymail.co.uk/preview/mol/2021/06/17/4350856714954295779/636x382_MP4_4350856714954295779.mp4
Sir Simon refused to give Mr Hancock support when he was pressed by Sky News political editor Beth Rigby if he has confidence in the Health Secretary's ability, having worked with him during the pandemic. After an awkward pause, the NHS boss smirked then said: 'I mean, that is a political question'. Responding to the clip on Twitter, Mr Cummings claimed that Sir Simon 'remembers very well' a meeting while Boris Johnson recovered from coronavirus in Chequers when Mr Hancock 'tried to throw him under the bus' over the PPE scandal which dominated the early part of the crisis.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9698977/NHS-chief-Simon-Stevens-squirms-refuses-answer-asked-thinks-Hancock-hopeless.html
Boris Johnson’s spin doctors did not put him up for an interview with Andrew Neil at the general election because he is a “gaffe machine”, Dominic Cummings has claimed.
During the 2019 December election, the PM refused to be interviewed by veteran broadcaster Andrew Neil who was at the BBC at the time.
Mr Neil, who is now chairman of GB News, challenged Mr Johnson, saying it was “a question of trust” for the Prime Minister.
Mr Cummings, the PM’s former top aide, has now revealed the apparent communications strategy behind the decision, claiming the PM was “clueless about policy”.
During a rant about political pundits on Friday, Mr Cummings tweeted: “Why the f*** would [we] put a gaffe machine clueless about policy & government up to be grilled for ages, upside=0 for what?!
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newslondon/dominic-cummings-brands-boris-johnson-a-gaffe-machine-who-is-clueless-about-policy/ar-AALbr62?ocid=msedgntp
The Telegraph understands that the Health Secretary had known about the PHE data three days before the "quad" of four senior ministers, led by the Prime Minister, met last Sunday to decide whether to postpone the planned June 21 reopening until July 19.
However, multiple sources familiar with the meeting said it was not raised by Mr Hancock or discussed at all during the course of the talks.
The data was also not included in briefing papers given to Mr Johnson, Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor and Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, in advance of the meeting.
The bombshell disclosure raises the possibility that the quad could have opted to press ahead with lifting the restrictions on Monday if they had been aware of the study, which showed that both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines were more effective at preventing hospitalisation with the variant than they were against previous strains.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/exclusive-matt-hancock-kept-boris-johnson-in-dark-over-covid-vaccines-success/ar-AALdPrD?ocid=msedgntp
Boris Johnson repeatedly lied over a pledge to stop Troubles prosecutions, his former defence minister has told the Court of Appeal in a case brought by a dying Northern Ireland veteran.
Johnny Mercer, who was sacked as veterans’ minister, has turned star witness in a case that threatens to cause the prime minister and other senior ministers deep embarrassment over their treatment of former troops who served in Northern Ireland.
Lawyers for Dennis Hutchings, an 80-year-old veteran charged with attempted murder over the death of a man 48 years aho, have submitted to the Court of Appeal a 21-page witness statement from Mr Mercer, a Conservative MP.
Mr Hutchings has brought a legal claim against the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, claiming veterans are being discriminated against over historic killings during the Troubles.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/boris-johnson-repeatedly-lied-over-pledge-to-stop-troubles-prosecutions-former-defence-minister-claims/ar-AALdNAu?ocid=msedgntp
…
Dominic Cummings has said Downing Street is dominated by “the blind leading the blind” and if the public could see how decisions were made, “everyone would sell everything and head for the bunker in the hills”.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/downing-street-decision-making-is-blind-leading-blind-says-dominic-cummings/ar-AALhEcJ?ocid=msedgntp
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newslondon/cummings-launches-latest-criticism-of-whitehall/ar-AALh5Sq?ocid=msedgntp
Matt Hancock has again sought to downplay Boris Johnson's claim that he was “f****** hopeless” at the start of the pandemic, insisting the remark was made during a “challenging and frustrating period” and adding: “It doesn’t matter.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/matt-hancock-says-it-doesn-t-matter-that-pm-called-him-f-hopeless/ar-AALiRuB?ocid=msedgntp
As Mr Hancock faced calls to resign or be fired today over an affair with an aide, Mr Cummings, a former adviser to Boris Johnson, dropped yet more behind-the-scenes evidence from his time in No10.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9725703/Now-Dominic-Cummings-lays-Matt-Hancock-revealing-PM-text-care-home-deaths-negligence.html
Boris Johnson said that Matt Hancock’s efforts to set up a track and trace system last spring were “whistling in the dark”internal government messages leaked by former adviser Dominic Cummings.
In a frank email exchange on 26 April 2020, Mr Johnson told his adviser he was concerned that the UK could end up with “the double distinction of being the European country with the most fatalities and the biggest economic hit”.
And the PM said that efforts to trace contacts of Covid patients appeared to involve “legions of imaginary Clouseaus” - a reference to the bungling Pink Panther detective played by Peter Sellers.
A week later on 3 May, Cummings told Johnson in a text message that the failure to keep Covid out of care homes meant that “at the moment I think we are negligently killing the most vulnerable who we are suposed to be shielding”.
Mr Johnson made no attempt to dispute this assertion in his reply, instead asking for the latest figures on infections.
Inventing a new word to describe the impact of the health secretary’s performance, Mr Cummings said the UK had been “Hancocked”.
“Our political institutions systematically... promote Hancocks and systematically block learning from high performance, which is seen as a dangerous menace by normal bureaucracies,” he wrote.
“Thus we get Hancocked.”
Labour said the comments showed that the prime minister had lost confidence in Mr Hancock’s handling of the coronavirus crisis as early as the spring of last year and said it was “astounding” that the health secretary kept his job.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/boris-johnson-told-adviser-matt-hancock-s-test-and-trace-plans-were-whistling-in-the-dark/ar-AALrUYT?ocid=msedgntp
Dominic Cummings
@Dominic2306
·
14h
So Carrie appoints Saj! NB If I hadn't tricked PM into firing Saj, we'd have had a HMT with useless SoS/spads, no furlough scheme, total chaos instead of JOINT 10/11 team which was a big success. Saj = bog standard = chasing headlines + failing = awful for NHS. Need #RegimeChange
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/dominic-cummings-savages-sajid-javid-his-insulting-tweet-explained/ar-AALuyb7?ocid=msedgntp