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<\/p>\nDominic Cummings acted like he was ‘prime minister in all but name’ in a No10 set-up designed to sideline the Cabinet and centralise control and decision making, former chancellor Sajid Javid said today.<\/p>\n
He reignited his feud with Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser – who cost him his job running the Treasury in early 2020 in a power struggle – as he gave evidence to the official Covid inquiry.<\/p>\n
Mr Javid, who went on to serve as Health Secretary, was grilled over his time in Downing Street ahead of the start of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
He said he resigned as chancellor after feeling that Mr Johnson was ‘not in charge’ and Mr Cummings was ‘running the government’ ahead of an inexperienced Cabinet.<\/p>\n
‘I would say during my time as chancellor I considered he sought to act as the prime minister in all but name and he tried to make all key decisions within No 10 – not the prime minister,’ he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Mr Javid reignited his feud with Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser – who cost him his job running the Treasury in early 2020 in a power struggle – as he gave evidence to the official Covid inquiry.<\/p>\n
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He said he resigned as chancellor after feeling that Mr Johnson was ‘not in charge’ and Mr Cummings was ‘running the government’ ahead of an inexperienced Cabinet.<\/p>\n
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Mr Javid, who is standing down as MP for Bromsgrove at the next election, became Chancellor when Mr Johnson took power in July 2019.<\/p>\n
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But he was forced out and replaced by Rishi Sunak in February 2020 after losing a power struggle with Mr Cummings.<\/p>\n
Mr Javid, who is standing down as MP for Bromsgrove at the next election, became\u00a0 Chancellor when Mr Johnson took power in July 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But he was forced out and replaced by Rishi Sunak in February 2020 after losing a power struggle with Mr Cummings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The aide insisted Mr Javid sack his closest aides and accept a joint No10\/No11 team of advisers, something he refused to do.<\/p>\n
He told the Inquiry that No10 was\u00a0‘designed’ to place Mr Cummings and then prime minister Boris Johnson as ‘decision-makers’, above an ‘inexperienced’ Cabinet.<\/span><\/p>\n ‘It was clear that in Dominic Cummings that the PM had picked someone he had decided to trust with a huge amount of responsibility and power,’ Mr Javid said.<\/p>\n ‘Many times I felt that many of the key decisions were being made by Mr Cummings rather than by the PM.’<\/p>\n An exert from his witness statement to the UK Covid-19 public inquiry read: ‘I consider that the Cabinet that went into the pandemic had less experience of being in government or holding offices of state than many previous cabinets.<\/p>\n ‘They were not a team who were well-versed in the affairs of government outside of a crisis and I can imagine that may have caused difficulties during the pandemic.<\/p>\n ‘My view is that the cabinet was designed to place Dominic Cummings and the prime minister as the decision-makers: the goal was to centralise power in No 10 with a preference for loyalty over experience.’<\/p>\n Asked about the statement, Mr Javid said: ‘The reason I’ve said this in my statement is because when this cabinet was put in place, and although there was some minor changes I think right after the general election, this cabinet was essentially the cabinet that was put in place in July 2019 by the new prime minister Boris Johnson.<\/p>\n ‘Obviously there was no expectation or even any thought towards a future crisis of this proportion and I think the focus was on the commitment of the new prime minister to deliver on the Brexit commitments to take the UK out of the European Union.<\/p>\n ‘I think sort of one of the primary considerations was to have a cabinet put together that would support the prime minister in that process. And that was largely the same cabinet that was in place.’<\/p>\n