Britain | I swear, your honour. A lot

The covid-19 inquiry exposes chaos in Boris Johnson’s government

Wrong people, wrong place, wrong time

Dominic Cummings is seen leaving Covid-19 Public Inquiry.
Image: Tayfun Salci /Zuma /Eyevine

IT WAS EASY to get distracted by the foul language. Did Dominic Cummings regret calling ministers “useless fuckpigs”, “morons” and “cunts” in WhatsApp messages, or describing the Cabinet Office as “terrifyingly shit”? Giving evidence to the covid-19 inquiry on October 31st, the one-time chief aide to Boris Johnson was characteristically caustic. If anything he had “understated” the scale of the dysfunction within the government as it grappled with covid.

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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “I swear, your honour. A lot ”

From the November 4th 2023 edition

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