Boris Johnson's rage at 'total and utter liar' Dominic Cummings over lockdown trip to Barnard Castle

31 October 2023, 18:08

Dominic Cummings gave evidence in the Covid inquiry
Dominic Cummings gave evidence in the Covid inquiry. Picture: Alamy

By Emma Soteriou

Furious Boris Johnson branded Dominic Cummings a "total and utter liar" over his lockdown trip to Barnard Castle.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Dominic Cummings, who was Boris Johnson's former chief adviser, claimed he drove to Barnard Castle to test his eyesight at the height of the pandemic.

Despite Johnson defending his actions at the time, WhatsApp messages revealed his real reaction to the saga.

In messages shared with the Covid inquiry, dated July 19 2021, Johnson said: "Cummings a total and utter liar. He never told me he had gone to Durham during lockdown.  

"I only discovered when the stories started to come out about Barnard castle etc. I believed Mary Wakefield when she wrote a piece in spec giving impression they had been in London the whole time.  

"He later claimed that he had told me but that my brain was so fogged by Covid that I didn't register.  

"It's not true, I would have noted it.  

"He never told me. I then tried my very best to defend him."

Cummings said that the handling by Downing Street of the fallout from his trip to Barnard Castle was an "absolute car crash" and "did cause a lot of people pain".

When asked about the controversy and its impact on confidence in the government, Cummings said: "It was certainly a disaster, the whole handling of the situation. But there were other factors involved with it all as well - testing and PPE and many other things were all going haywire at the time."

He said it was "completely reasonable" for security reasons to move his family out of his house, but it was "handled it was an absolute car crash and disaster and did cause a lot of people pain".

Cummings added: "In terms of my actual actions in going north and then coming back down I acted entirely reasonably and legally and did not break any rules."

Read more: What have we learnt from the Covid inquiry so far?
Read more:
Boris's former adviser Dominic Cummings gives evidence

Cummings arriving at the hearing on Tuesday
Cummings arriving at the hearing on Tuesday. Picture: Alamy

It came after he branded Johnson's Cabinet as "useless f***pigs" and "morons", saying he was "reflecting a widespread view" when he used expletive-laden descriptions of Cabinet ministers.

Hugo Keith KC, lead counsel to the Covid Inquiry, said "we're going to have to coarsen our language somewhat" as he read out some of the terms used by Cummings in WhatsApp and email messages, including "useless f*******, morons, c****."

"I apologise," Cummings said.

Asked by Mr Keith whether he contributed to a lack of effectiveness on the part of ministers, Cummings replied: "No, I think I was reflecting a widespread view amongst competent people at the centre of power at the time about the calibre of a lot of senior people who were dealing with this crisis extremely badly."

He admitted that his language was "appalling", but said his "judgment of a lot of senior people was widespread".

When asked whether he expressed his views too trenchantly and his opinion of the Cabinet overstated the position, the former key aide said: "No, I would say, if anything, it understated the position as events showed in 2020."

Whatsapp messages blasting Boris Johnson read to Covid Inquiry

Cummings described the Cabinet Office as a "bomb site" and a "dumpster fire" when he took up his role as adviser to Johnson.

He said there were "a lot of the wrong people in the wrong job" as he described a culture of "constantly classifying everything to hide mistakes".

Giving evidence, he said: "The Cabinet Office over a long period of time has accumulated more and more power, formal and informal.

"It's become incredibly bloated. It's acquired huge numbers of people, huge numbers of teams. And particularly on the whole, the sort of deep state, national security side, crisis management, has become in all sorts of ways extremely opaque and effectively completely invisible to any political figure, including the prime minister.

Read more: ‘Get Covid and live longer’: Boris Johnson said Government should let older people get virus to protect economy

"So it was extremely difficult to know in Number 10 who exactly in the Cabinet Office was doing what, whose responsibility it was, who were we supposed to talk to to get action and that was critical, particularly in the first couple of months (of the pandemic)."

Asked if it was to do with staffing levels or a reflection of personalities in the Cabinet Office, he said: "Like all dysfunctional systems, it was a mix of a lot of the wrong people in the wrong job, decades of accumulated power, no real scrutiny and insight, a culture of constantly classifying everything to hide mistakes and hide scrutiny."

Cummings apologises for coarse language during Covid inquiry testimony

Cummings was Johnson's top political aide in Downing Street from July 2019 until November 2020, when he was asked to leave government.

He is one of several to be giving evidence in the inquiry, with ex No10 communications chief Lee Cain also giving evidence on Tuesday.

Johnson is yet to deliver his own testimony to the inquiry.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

A British father has been sentenced to 40 years in a ‘hellhole’ prison after allegedly being found with £2000 of cocaine in a police sting in Dubai.

Brit dad, 33, sentenced to 40 years in Dubai hellhole prison after ‘being caught with £2000 of cocaine’

A close-up of the collapsed building with a crane and rescuers at the State Audit Office building in Chatuchak district.'' On March 28, 2025.

Construction mogul and dozen others surrender to police after Bangkok high-rise collapsed in earthquake, killing 92

Rory McIlroy (NIR) plays his tee shot at the 5th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club on May 15, 2025.

Rory McIlroy off the pace after error-strewn first round at US PGA Championship

Nasal tanning spray warning

Consumers warned to avoid ‘dangerous’ nasal tanning sprays and gummies

The American musician was arrested at a hotel in Manchester in the early hours of Thursday by detectives from the Metropolitan Police.

Singer Chris Brown charged with grievous bodily harm over alleged ‘bottle attack’ at London nightclub

UK Finance said that, although repossession numbers increased, they remain low compared with the longer-term.

18% quarterly jump in homeowner mortgage repossessions

Exclusive
Chris Murray MP on LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr.

Labour MP ‘beyond furious’ with asylum seeker housing firms making hundreds of millions as he urges Home Office to ‘get a grip’

Firefighters are tackling a fire in Bicester

'Very serious' fire at former RAF airfield in Bicester as huge plume of smoke seen

Torben Hersborg (l) pictured with his childhood friend, actor Mads Mikkelsen, Central London Osteopathy

Celebrity osteopath caught in decade-long voyeurism and upskirting scandal

Daniel Clarke, of Bloxwich near Walsall, was sentenced to seven years and six months at Wolverhampton Crown Court

Teaching assistant jailed for sexually abusing vulnerable children may have 'well over 81' victims

Decades of research shows the "detrimental effects of physical punishment".

Smacking ban needed to protect children from 'detrimental effects', health experts warn

Andrew Campbell, a former Nottinghamshire police officer, who was jailed for was jailed for five years and 10 months after amassing a collection of deadly weapons

Former police officer who amassed ‘treasure trove’ of weapons jailed

A visitor holds up a Palestinian flag during Yuval Raphael's performance for Israel during the final rehearsal for the second semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest

Israeli Eurovision act Yuval Raphael has rehearsal ‘disrupted’ by protesters

Rapper and producer Sean 'Diddy' Combs is charged with an array of crimes including sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs ex says 'freaks offs' were integral to their relationship' as explicit texts read out in court

Gary Lineker has apologised after sharing a social media post about Zionism that included an illustration of a rat

Gary Lineker defends pro-Palestine stance amid antisemitism row: 'If you're silent on Gaza, you're complicit'

Dr Basem Naim (right) says Hamas has shared its proposed agreement 'directly' with US

Hamas confirms direct peace talks with US on ending Gaza war