Dominic Cummings says Boris Johnson was 'unfit' for the job

26 May 2021, 06:42 | Updated: 26 May 2021, 17:09

Warning: May contain strong language

Key points:

• Dominic Cummings says senior politicians and officials fell “disastrously short” of what was required of them when the pandemic broke out
• He believed Boris Johnson was "unfit" for the job
• Claims of pandemic preparedness were "basically completely hollow," he told MPs
• Boris Johnson regarded Covid as a “scare story” and “the new swine flu” in February 2020
• Cummings said he sent a text message to PM on March 12 saying “we’ve got big problems” but interventions came far too late
• Cummings accuses Hancock of lying repeatedly and says he should have been sacked

Watch Live: Dominic Cummings grilled by panel of MPs

Dominic Cummings is facing MPs questions about the Government's response to Covid-19 in the early days of the pandemic.

Boris Johnson's former top aide - who had a front seat to discussions about lockdown decisions - gave his account to a joint meeting of both the Science and Technology Select Committee and the Health and Social Care Select Committee.

The title was simple - 'Coronavirus: lessons learnt'.

Cummings had already alluded to what he may say in front of MPs, and confirmed he heard the PM wished to follow a "herd immunity" strategy in the early days.

So far, Boris Johnson's top team have continued to deny this claim, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock denying it, and Home Secretary Priti Patel telling LBC on Sunday the government's strategy "from the outset" was to "protect the NHS and save lives".

Read more: PM did make 'let bodies pile high in their thousands' comment, Cummings claims

Read more: Health Secretary Matt Hancock should have been fired for lying, says Cummings

Read more: Cummings - Officials feared PM would try to be injected with Covid on TV to stop 'panic'

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