Civil servants ‘plotted to gag Dominic Cummings’ to stop him publishing insider stories about Boris Johnson but the plan was vetoed by Number 10 amid fears it would ‘just make it worse’
- Civil servants were planning to send a letter to PM’s ex-aide Dominic Cummings
- Letter was going to tell Mr Cummings to stop publishing private No10 info
- But Downing Street vetoed letter being sent because it ‘would just make it worse’
Civil servants plotted to try to gag Dominic Cummings and stop him spilling insider secrets about his time in Downing Street, it was claimed today.
Officials are said to have drafted a letter to be sent to Boris Johnson’s former chief aide instructing him to stop publishing private information on Twitter and on his blog.
However, Number 10 stepped in and vetoed the plan amid fears that sending it would ‘just make it worse’.
Mr Cummings has repeatedly embarrassed his former boss in recent months by publishing lengthy Twitter threads and blog posts spilling the beans on life in Number 10.
Civil servants plotted to try to gag Dominic Cummings and stop him spilling insider secrets about his time in Downing Street, it was claimed today
Officials are said to have drafted a letter to be sent to Boris Johnson’s former chief aide instructing him to stop publishing private information on Twitter and on his blog
He also answered MPs’ questions for seven hours on the Government’s handling of the pandemic as he made a series of damaging accusations against Mr Johnson and his ministers.
Civil servants drafted a letter to Mr Cummings urging him to refrain from publishing any more information and to remind him that details of his time in Government should remain private.
They looked at whether Mr Cummings was in breach of his Number 10 work contract, the civil service code or the Official Secrets Act, according to The Telegraph.
However, the letter was vetoed by Number 10 because of fears it could further inflame the war of words between Mr Cummings and the Government.
A source told The Telegraph: ‘There was a discussion. There was a proposal to do something and in the end they decided it would just make it worse.’
Ministers reportedly feared turning Mr Cummings into a ‘martyr’ or that he could style himself as ‘the Edward Snowden of Whitehall’.
Mr Cummings’ attacks on the Government have seem him tell MPs that he believes Mr Johnson is unfit to be premier.
He published private WhatsApp messages showing Mr Johnson described the former health secretary Matt Hancock as ‘totally f****** hopeless’.
Most recently he mocked the PM by calling him ‘trolley’ – a reference to Mr Johnson’s apparently chaotic approach to decision making.
Source: Read Full Article