Boris Johnson spent Wednesday doing his best to ignore the extraordinary events unfolding a few hundred yards away in parliament as Dominic Cummings gave his explosive evidence to MPs.
While Cummings was castigating his former employer as unfit for office, Johnson was getting ready for prime minister’s questions in the Cabinet room where the television wasn’t on.
Elsewhere in Downing Street, however, Cummings was unavoidable. “He was absolutely everywhere,” one Number 10 aide said. “People were trying to work but because Sky and the BBC were on in every department you just couldn’t avoid it.”
Privately, Johnson is said to be relieved that the hearing, which has been anticipated for months, is over. “He feels pissed off and let down, but he’s not worried about
Boris Johnson 'cut Matt Hancock out of No.10 meetings after the Covid care home fiasco' - and pair's relationship became 'really bad' as death toll soared, says source
Prime Ministers doubts said to have grown after patients sent to care homes
Source said Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock's relationship soured
Relationship became 'really bad' as coronavirus death toll soared, source said
Damning allegations follow Wednesday's withering attack on Mr Hancock
The crisis for Matt Hancock deepened last night after it was claimed Boris Johnson had so lost confidence in the under-fire Health Secretary he was cut out of No 10 meetings last year.
The Prime Minister’s doubts were said to have grown after hospital patients were sent to care homes without first being tested for Covid in the early weeks of the pandemic – with disastrous results.
A source said the pair’s relationship became ‘really bad’ as the coronavirus death toll soared.
The damning allegations follow Wednesday’s withering attack on Mr Hancock by Dominic Cummings.
The Prime Minister’s former chief adviser told MPs that claims the Government had protected care homes were ‘complete nonsense’ and that ‘tens of thousands of people died, who didn’t need to die’ as a result of the mistakes made.
Last night, the source claimed Mr Johnson would deliberately exclude Mr Hancock from some meetings with advisers such as NHS chief Sir Simon Stevens and chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty.
Damning allegations follow Wednesday’s withering attack on Matt Hancock (pictured) by Dominic Cummings
‘It got to the point where the PM had to check every claim he made to check it was accurate,’ the source said.
‘There were situations when he was cut out of meetings so the PM could get a proper account of what was happening. He would not be invited.
‘Sometimes when he would turn up anyway. He would just rock up and the PM would do this eye roll. When the care home stuff got really bad, the PM totally lost faith in Matt, but said he could not fire him because of how it would look to sack a health secretary in the middle of a pandemic. There were certainly conversations had about firing him, multiple conversations.
Last night, the source claimed Mr Johnson (pictured) would deliberately exclude Mr Hancock from some meetings with advisers such as NHS chief Sir Simon Stevens and chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty
‘The problem is he is the sort of person to say day is night. He would not answer straight questions and would be evasive. It is like nailing jelly to a wall.’ However, a source close to Mr Hancock said it was ‘emphatically untrue’ that he had been cut out of briefings.
And Cabinet ministers flocked to the Health Secretary’s defence as he came under sustained pressure from the social care industry over the decision to move untested hospital patients into care homes.
The head of the UK’s largest charity care home provider said the move had been like ‘putting a live explosive in a box of tinder’.
Sam Monaghan, chief executive of MHA, told Times Radio: ‘Obviously you had the pressure from the NHS, which we quite understood. But there’s no way that you can take people into care homes who aren’t tested. Care home residents were seen as somehow an inevitable casualty of this.’
Mr Hancock told a Downing Street briefing on Thursday that it was not possible to test everyone because of a lack of capacity at that time.
Yesterday Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng stressed the ‘difficult’ task Mr Hancock has faced while tackling the pandemic.
Cabinet ministers flocked to the Health Secretary’s defence as he came under sustained pressure from the social care industry over the decision to move untested hospital patients into care homes. Pictured, Mr Cummings
‘I think what Matt stressed very carefully yesterday was that he was absolutely focused, right from the start of the pandemic, on saving people’s lives,’ he told Sky News.
‘He was in a difficult situation as the Health Secretary, in a pandemic, the like of which we hadn’t seen for 100 years. He was under huge pressure.
‘And as a Cabinet colleague, I know that he worked really hard and very few people, if anyone, worked as hard as he did and he was very committed to saving lives.
‘Now he said what he said, I fully believe him but we’ll have an inquiry and that will iron out all these facts.’
Asked later whether Mr Hancock should keep his job, Mr Kwarteng replied: ‘Absolutely... there hasn’t been anyone in Government that’s been more focused on saving lives, protecting the NHS.’
An ally of the Health Secretary said: ‘Matt completely rejects the claims made by Dom around honesty, including in relation to testing. Sadly, Dom made building the testing capacity we needed more difficult.’
A man has been charged in connection with the attempted murder of activist Sasha Johnson.
Cameron Deriggs, 18, of Lewisham, has been charged with conspiracy to murder.
Ms Johnson, 27, was shot in Southwark, London, on Sunday 23 May and remains in a critical condition in hospital.
She is an Oxford graduate and has two children
Earlier this week, the Metropolitan Police said they had arrested five men in connection with the incident, with the other four now bailed until later in June.
Advertisement
Deriggs will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court tomorrow.
Ms Johnson was one of the organisers of the first-ever Million People March last August to protest against systemic racism in the UK. During the demonstration, hundreds of people took to the streets of west London.
She is also one of the leaders of the Taking The Initiative Party (TTIP), a political party that was registered with the Electoral Commission nearly four years ago and fielded its first candidates in May's local elections.
Boris Johnson was "unwise" to allow the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat "without more rigorous regard for how this would be funded", an independent adviser has found.
Lord Geidt, the prime minister's adviser on standards, deemed that while the PM did not break the ministerial code, he had "unwisely" allowed the renovation to go ahead without knowing how it would be paid for.
However, Lord Geidt - who in other findings released on Friday concluded that Health Secretary Matt Hancock had committed a "minor breach" of the ministerial code when a COVID contract was awarded to his sister's company - concluded that Mr Johnson was unaware of the donor's contribution.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
April: PM says flat story a 'farrago of nonsense'
Looking into the controversy over renovations at the PM's Downing Street flat was Lord Geidt's first task since being appointed to his new role in April, having previously been private secretary to the Queen.
The prime minister receives an annual public grant of £30,000 to spend on his private residence, but there has been speculation the final bill was up to £200,000.
More on Boris Johnson
The PM has said he paid for the works out of his own pocket, but there were questions over how initial costs were funded and whether they were covered by a Conservative Party donor.
The commission said it was "satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to suspect than an offence or offences may have occurred".
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
April: Boris Johnson faces tricky questions in PMQs
At PMQs in April, Mr Johnson said: "Any further declaration that I have to make - if any - I will be advised upon by Lord Geidt."
As part of his new role, Lord Geidt signed off publications of the latest Register Of Ministerial Interests.
With regards to the flat, it said: "It is clear from the record that while a serious and genuine endeavour, the trust was not subjected to a scheme of rigorous project management by officials.
"Given the level of the prime minister's expectations for the trust to deliver on the objects he had set, this was a significant failing.
"Instead, the prime minister - unwisely, in my view - allowed the refurbishment of the apartment at No 11 Downing Street to proceed without more rigorous regard for how this would be funded."
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
'Major Sleaze': Starmer clashes with Johnson
The document also revealed that Lord Brownlow, a Conservative life peer in the House of Lords and former vice-chairman of the party, paid towards the redecoration costs.
The report stated: "I have considered the nature of that support and am content that no conflict (or reasonably perceived conflict) arises as a result of these interests.
"In respect of the Conservative Party, because of the strong connection between them and the prime minister, I do not believe that such support would put the prime minister under any different obligation to the relationship he already has as leader of the party.
"In respect of Lord Brownlow, as a member of the House of Lords, his interests are set out publicly and there is no evidence that he acted with anything other than altruistic and philanthropic motives."
On whether the PM knew about Lord Brownlow's involvement, the document added: "I accept that at the point when the prime minister became aware, he took steps to make the relevant declarations and seek advice.
"I also accept that, up until that point, he had reasonably assumed that earlier advice about the establishment of a trust had taken care of his interests."
Image:Lord Brownlow is a Conservative life peer. Pic: Parliament TV
The register was due to be published sooner, but was delayed until a new adviser was appointed.
Lord Geidt can raise concerns with the PM if he believes accusations that Mr Johnson broke the ministerial code should be investigated further, but is unable to launch such an investigation himself.
The prime minister retains the power to decide whether any minister has broken the code and what sanctions they should receive if so.
Lord Geidt was the Queen's private secretary for a decade and joined the House of Lords as a crossbench peer following his departure in 2017.
Image:Lord Geidt was previously private secretary to the Queen
A No 10 spokesperson said: "Lord Geidt's independent report shows the prime minister acted in accordance with the Ministerial Code at all times.
"The prime minister has made a declaration in his list of ministerial interests, as advised by Lord Geidt.
"Cabinet Office officials were engaged and informed throughout and official advice was followed.
"Other than works funded through the annual allowance, the costs of the wider refurbishment of the flat are not being financed by taxpayers and have been settled by the prime minister personally."
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said: "The government has at long last admitted that a Tory donor has been funding the prime minister's private life. We know this isn't the only aspect of the prime minister's lifestyle that may be being funded by Tory donors - No 10 must now come clean about how far this goes."
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
April: PM says 'I love John Lewis'
Analysis: Whole episode supports Cummings claim of chaotic atmosphere in Downing Street By Joe Pike, political correspondent
Boris Johnson will be relieved that he has been cleared of breaking the ministerial code.
He will hope this is the end of the 'cash for cushions' row over his lavish flat refurbishments that has swallowed up the time of civil servants, the Cabinet secretary, and put his partner Carrie Symonds in the headlines.
Yet Lord Geidt's report is also clear that the PM proceeded "unwisely" with the works, without understanding how they would be paid for.
We now know the Conservative Party donor Lord Brownlow initially picked up the invoices. Some estimates put the total renovation costs at £200,000.
Perhaps most startling is the revelation that the PM only seems to have realised Lord Brownlow had dug into his own wallet when Mr Johnson read it in the papers.
A lot of the blame is placed on civil servants who "ill-served" and "insufficiently supported" the prime minister.
This whole episode supports Dominic Cummings's claim of a chaotic atmosphere in Downing Street. And it paints a picture of a PM with a limited interest in detail.
"Unacceptable management" of London Bridge terrorist Usman Khan contributed to the deaths of his two victims, an inquest has concluded.
The jury at the Guildhall ruled that Khan, 28, "unlawfully killed" Cambridge graduates Saskia Jones, 23, and Jack Merritt, 25, at the rehabilitation event at Fishmongers' Hall in London in November 2019.
Jurors criticised agencies involved in the management of their attacker, saying it was "unacceptable" and there was a "lack of accountability and deficiencies in management by Mappa (multi-agency public protection arrangements".
Image:Saskia Jones, 23, and Jack Merritt, 25, were killed in the 2019 attack
They found that those involved with Khan had been blinded by his "poster-boy image" for the Learning Together programme.
They added that there had been "missed opportunities for those with expertise and experience to give guidance" in the management of Khan.
Advertisement
Mr Merritt's father David agreed that Khan's supervision after release "was not fit for purpose".
He described authorities as "complacent and passive" faced with the threat of what he might do.
"We hope that all other agencies will learn the lessons highlighted by the inquest," he said after the hearing.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Jack Merritt's father spoke about the inquest's findings on the attack
Mr Merritt said his son was a "do-gooder in the best sense of the term" and that he "believed in the work he was doing".
He said his family has "stood in solidarity and sorrow" with Ms Jones's family during "the most difficult and traumatic time of our lives".
Image:David Merritt (left) reads a statement outside the inquest
A statement on behalf of the jury sent their "heartfelt condolences" to both families and "to all who love and miss these two wonderful people".
"They clearly touched the lives of so many, ours included," they said, adding: "The world lost two bright stars that dreadful day."
They said they "wanted to convey to the families how seriously we have taken our collective responsibility" and "how much their children matter".
"We also wanted to take this opportunity to thank the astonishing individuals who put themselves in real danger to help and our incredible emergency services for their response both that day and every day," they added.
Image:A map shows where events unfolded that day
Met Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu described the force's shortcomings as "simply unacceptable", adding he was "so deeply sorry".
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Assistant Met Police Commissioner admits terrorist management 'could be improved'
"The stark reality is we can't prevent every attack," he said. "But I promise we will do everything we can to try."
Khan stabbed the two victims before he was chased on to nearby London Bridge by members of the public, who were carrying a fire extinguisher and narwhal tusk to try to disarm him.
The 28-year-old, who was wearing a fake suicide vest, was then shot dead by police.
Evidence heard during the six-week inquest hearing repeatedly suggested the decision to allow Khan to attend the event in the capital, 11 months after his release from jail, was made with little scrutiny.
Concerns had been raised about Khan's increasing isolation and his frustration at being unable to find a job.
Image:Saskia Jones sat beside Usman Khan at the prisoner rehabilitation event
There were also warnings during his eight years in prison that he may not comply with conditions upon release to slip under the radar of authorities.
The inquest heard he had written a play while in jail, which foretold elements of his attack and it was passed to MI5 in early 2019.
The play's main character was released from a secure unit and commits a series of murders armed with a knife, but a senior MI5 official said it was deemed simply a piece of creative writing.
Jurors found there had been unacceptable management and a lack of accountability in the oversight of Khan, who had been allowed to travel on his own to London.
They concluded there had been failures in the sharing of information between state agencies responsible for monitoring the convicted terrorist.
Met Police
Deficiencies in the organisation of the event at Fishmongers' Hall, including a lack of security measures, were also found to have been a factor in the two deaths.
After the conclusions were delivered, the forewoman of the jury said the jurors wanted to send "heartfelt condolences to the families of Saskia and Jack" who "clearly touched the lives of so many, ours included".
"We are so incredibly sorry. The world lost two bright stars that dreadful day," she said.
The forewoman added that the jury wanted to "thank the astonishing individuals who put themselves in real danger to help and our incredible emergency services for their response, both that day and every day".
Khan, who was from Stafford, had been released from prison in December 2018 after spending eight years inside for planning to set up a terrorist training camp in Pakistan.
The 28-year-old stabbed Mr Merritt, 25, and Ms Jones inside the hall before he was chased along London Bridge by members of the public and shot dead by police.
At the conclusion of the inquests, 23-year-old Ms Jones's family said there were still "unanswered questions relating to failures of a number of organisations and individuals".
"It is beyond understanding and astonishing that not one of the state agencies sufficiently considered the associated risk and therefore questioned the wisdom of sending Usman Khan unaccompanied to London," the family said in a statement.
They also criticised Learning Together, which ran the prisoner rehabilitation programme, and the Fishmongers' Company over failures to keep those at the event safe.
Analysis
By Daniel Sandford, home affairs correspondent
When you go into these inquests, you're never quite sure how the evidence will unfold.
For seven weeks, we've heard details of his behaviour in prison, of how he was managed on release from prison and of how the key bits of intelligence about him were handled.
And bit by bit, the families of Saskia Jones and Jack Merritt have become more and more horrified by what they've heard.
And the jury, it seems, have also agreed with the families, because when asked three key questions they concluded that:
The management of Khan in the community contributed to the deaths of Saskia Jones and Jack Merritt
The failure to share intelligence properly contributed to the deaths
The security arrangements at Fishmongers' Hall contributed to the deaths
So all in all it has been a damning set of conclusions from the jury after hearing weeks of evidence.
A Court of Appeal ruling had meant Khan had to be automatically released on licence from prison, with the Parole Board having no say as to whether he was safe to be freed.
Throughout his time in jail, he was classed among the 70 highest-risk inmates in the country, was frequently involved in violence and radicalisation, and spent a significant period under investigation by MI5.
Upon his release Khan was assessed as being more dangerous than when he went into prison and there was an imminent risk of him causing serious harm to the public.
MI5 launched a new investigation into Khan but the intelligence was never shared with his probation officer nor the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) panel.
Met Police
Khan's trip to Fishmongers' Hall on the day of the killings was his first unescorted journey out of Staffordshire following his release from prison.
Police, MI5 and probation services all knew that he was going to attend the event but the inquests heard that none of them took any steps to guard against this.
