WHO KNIFED CUMMINGS?

Speculation ‘dark forces’ behind exposé on aide who dared to take on Whitehall

THE explosive revelations about Dominic Cummings come against the backdrop of growing tensions between the maverick aide and the Whitehall establishment – leading some Tory MPs to speculate about whether ‘dark forces’ were behind the exposé.

Shortly before the story broke in two Left-leaning newspapers yesterday, sources claimed that Mr Cummings had been at the centre of an attempt to oust Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill, something which No 10 sources deny.

The claims have circulated in the wake of the appointment of the Duke of Cambridge’s private secretary, Simon Case, to the previously-dormant role as No10’s own Permanent Secretary.

The move has been described by one political aide as ‘a shot across Sedwill’s bows’ – but has also been seen as an attempt to dilute Mr Cummings’s all-pervasive influence.

Mr Cummings has been a long-standing critic of the Whitehall establishment, describing the permanent Civil Service as ‘an idea for the history books’ and proposing the abolition of senior civil servants’ roles.

A senior source admitted that tensions had been ‘running high’ in No10, with many officials exhausted by the Covid-19 crisis, but played down the idea that Mr Cummings had been the victim of a ‘hit job’ by his enemies in Government.

Mr Case, an experienced mandarin and a former security official at GCHQ, has been appointed to serve as a ‘bridge’ between Mr Johnson’s political team and the Civil Service, in an effective admission that the crisis has put the current No10 structure under huge strain. Mr Johnson personally phoned Prince William last week to ask his permission for Mr Case to be seconded to Downing Street to help tackle the crisis.

To add to the tensions in No10, and the sense that Sir Mark’s wings are being clipped, Whitehall official Helen Macnamara has been promoted to Deputy Cabinet Secretary as well as head of the Cabinet Secretariat.

The role coordinating the work of Cabinet had previously been held by Sir Mark. One source added: ‘There is a view that a few things have been kept out of the Prime Minister’s view by Sir Mark and that the PM needs a better grip on what he is up to. He’s clearly been too thinly spread and now that’s changing’.

One Tory MP said: ‘Dom has made enemies everywhere, and you can’t help wondering whether dark forces have been at play to exact their revenge.’

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps defended Mr Cummings, as he faced a barrage of questions about the case at yesterday’s Downing Street press conference.

Mr Shapps went out of his way to insist that the aide had been doing what was best for his four-year-old son, saying: ‘In moments of crisis, we seek to have our family around us’. But he appeared irritated that he was forced to deal with repeated questions about Mr Cummings rather than the raft of transport announcements – including a crossPennine dual-carriageway plan – he was making.

Mr Shapps insisted that Mr Johnson was aware of his key aide’s decision to travel to County Durham so his young son would be safely looked after, saying: ‘The Prime Minister would have known he was staying put, and he didn’t come out again until he was feeling better’.

Pressed on the lockdown advice, deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries said interpretation of the rules was for others, adding: ‘All of the guidance has a common sense element to it’ – including safeguarding children.