Former Civil Service Chief demands enquiry into Dominic Cummings scandal

24 May 2020, 12:32

Lord Kerslake on Dominic Cummings scandal

The government have not done enough to address the Dominic Cummings scandal so far, this former civil service boss demands an enquiry.

Lord Bob Kerslake is a former head of the civil service and he spoke to LBC about the drama surrounding Dominic Cummings' apparent flouting of lockdown rules. He told Andrew Castle that the government reaction so far has been less than satisfactory and insisted that the scandal isn't being taken seriously.

Lord Kerslake insisted that "wheeling out a series of ministers isn't the same" as addressing the issue of Mr Cummings flouting his own lockdown rules. He referenced yesterday's coronavirus press conference where Grant Shapps seemed to pull the short straw in having to answer questions from the press, which centred entirely around the PM's chief adviser.

Andrew played devil's advocate, arguing that the government should be rallying in support for the PM's chief advisor. "Should they not be lining up to show unity?" he asked Lord Kerslake.

The former civil service chief quashed the claim and pointed out that there are already government MPs breaking rank. "There's a serious case" he said, for an enquiry to be carried out into Dominic Cummings' behaviour.

Lord Kerslake told Andrew that an enquiry should be put in place simply to "establish the facts." "If the senior adviser to the government is felt to have breached their own rules, it is a big issue" he said, and this needs to be buried quickly.

"When you're an adviser you have to be absolutely above and beyond any challenge on these things" Lord Kerslake expanded, arguing that Mr Cummings should never have put himself in the position to come under scrutiny.

He told Andrew that Mr Cummings should have nothing to worry about "either he will be vindicated which is fine, or not in which case i think he should consider his position very seriously"