Private WhatsApp messages from inside Downing Street during the Covid-19 pandemic have been released as part of the public inquiry into the government's handling of the crisis. The exchanges reveal strained relations and personal animosity among key figures, including then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his senior aides.
On 2 March 2020, Johnson chaired his first Cobra emergency committee meeting on Covid-19. However, a day later, his chief of staff Dominic Cummings told communications director Lee Cain that Johnson did not think the virus was a big deal, comparing it to swine flu. Cummings said the PM's focus was elsewhere.
On 19 March, four days before the first UK-wide lockdown, Cummings described Johnson as 'melting down' during a discussion on government debt financing. He said the PM was in 'Jaws mode', a reference to a joke about keeping beaches open despite shark warnings. Cummings added that it was only a matter of time before Johnson's babbling exposed his lack of knowledge.
In August 2020, Cummings sent expletive-laden messages about deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara, calling her propriety and ethics 'bullshit' and threatening to handcuff her and escort her from the building. He later told the inquiry his language was 'appalling' but denied being a misogynist.
Cummings also urged Johnson to reshuffle his 'feral' and 'useless' team to prevent political 'mayhem', warning of leadership challenges. He described then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock as a 'proven liar who nobody believes', though Hancock denied lying to Johnson.
Messages from September 2020 show Cummings, Cain, and cabinet secretary Simon Case discussing unnamed ministers as 'moronic' and meetings as 'embarrassing', highlighting the dysfunctional relationships at the heart of government during the pandemic.
