Cummings is either stupid or lying to us
BORIS JOHNSON says he won’t sack Dominic Cummings and he now considers the “matter closed”. Mr Cummings may think he is untouchable because Mr Johnson needs him too much to sack him. They are both wrong.
It is not closed, as everything Mr Cummings now does will be subject to intense scrutiny.
And even if Mr Johnson arrogantly ignores the country, he could still be pressured from people he is forced to listen to.
Of course, the Prime Minister doesn’t want to lose his top adviser.
Mr Cummings is the guy who pens the script that Mr Johnson performs.
He toils away in the background writing the riffs that strike a chord with the public while the swaggering personality is out front feeding greedily on the attention.
He is the Noel to Johnson’s Liam or Johnny Marr to Johnson’s Morrisey, with apologies to Mr Gallagher and Mr Marr.
Nobody really believes that he took a trip to a picturesque castle, with his wife and child in the car, to test if his eyesight was ok to drive.
That would make him one of the most stupid people in the country as well as the most irresponsible. He might be a contender for the latter, in breaching the rules he helped shape, but he is certainly not the former.
Either way it renders him unfit for the job he has.
If, and I am stretching credibility beyond the limit here, he actually did drive to test his eyesight, then he can’t be trusted to advise his four-year-old son when it’s time to go to bed, never mind devise strategies for the Prime Minister.
And if not, then he has been lying to us all live on TV.
I thought the BBC had revived Jackanory when I watched Mr Cummings read from behind his picnic table.
The last time I heard a tale as tall as the one spun in the Downing Street rose garden was when my pal George treated the class to an elaborate description of how FBI agents in suits and sunglasses confiscated his jotters on the way to school as his excuse for not having his homework. The only reasonable conclusion in the Dominic Cummings tale ends with a
P45 being delivered, while adhering to social distancing and that means no golden handshakes.
Yet, still Mr Johnson won’t sack him. Mr Johnson relies on Mr Cummings so much I wouldn’t be surprised if it is Cummings who dips his elbow to test baby Wilfred’s bathwater.
The Prime Minister, and his adviser, seem to think if they ride it out it will blow over and the media, and the country, will have moved on to the next controversy.
He has a majority of 80 in the House of Commons and the next General Election is so far off he will be thinking about kitting Wilfred out in top hat and tails for Eton before he’s popping leaflets though doors.
That doesn’t mean Mr Cummings is safe. Mr Johnson may be the only person who can remove him. But Mr Johnson may not be wise to dig his heels in too deep.
It is not just an election that the Prime Minister has to worry about.
The biggest danger to a Prime Minister this early in his tenure is not necessarily the opposition but from within his own party.
If enough MPs put pressure on then he will be forced to act. And if enough constituents put pressure on their MP they will be forced to act.
He already has one resignation and plenty others who say Mr Cummings has to go.
It is all about accountability. Mr Cummings is accountable to Mr Johnson, who is accountable to his Parliamentary party of MPs who are accountable to their constituents.
If you don’t like how the Prime Minister and Mr Cummings are playing the country for fools, make your views known.
Get in touch with your local Conservative councillor or MSP and respectfully put forward your views.
Mr Cummings is a man who likes to shape the agenda, frame the political conversation.
He is he guy who tells the Prime Minister what the public thinks and what they will respond to.
If Mr Cummings was being honest and was advising the Prime Minister what he should do about Mr Cummings then he would be out the door.
The Prime Minister is fond of military analogies. So he should recognise his mistake and order himself “Turn about. About turn”.
Then stand in front of Mr Cummings and issue his marching orders. “By the right, quick march.”
I thought the BBC had revived Jackanory when I watched Mr Cummings read from behind his picnic table