Watch: UK's top civil servant grilled by MPs

26 April 2021, 14:27 | Updated: 26 April 2021, 17:15

Live: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

By Kate Buck

Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, was expected to indicate he had not cleared Mr Johnson's former adviser Dominic Cummings over leaks, when he appears before the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee - watch it above.

Simon Case, the UK's most senior civil servant, was expected to say his inquiry is still "live" into the matters.

Mr Cummings has accused Mr Johnson of seeking to block the investigation after learning that a close friend of his fiancee, Carrie Symonds, had been implicated, a claim the Prime Minister denied.

In an incendiary blog post, Mr Cummings went on to say that Mr Case had told Mr Johnson that neither he nor the then No 10 director of communications, Lee Cain, was the culprit.

READ MORE: Top civil servant to be grilled by MPs as lobbying scandal engulfs Westminster

However officials familiar with the investigation said that it had neither "landed" on any one individual nor exonerated anyone.

The disclosure is likely to further anger Mr Cummings, who released his onslaught after he was accused by No 10 of a series of damaging leaks, including text message exchanges between Mr Johnson and the entrepreneur Sir James Dyson.

Ministers are now concerned at what he may say when he gives evidence to MPs investigating the Government's response to the pandemic next month.

READ MORE: Labour calls for 'full investigation' into Boris Johnson's Downing Street refurb

READ MORE: Dominic Cummings denies leaking Prime Minister's text messages

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