George Osborne, the former Conservative chancellor, has revealed that the Covid inquiry has been provided with WhatsApp messages exchanged between Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings that have been labeled as “disgusting and misogynistic.”
Next Tuesday, Cummings, who was Johnson’s main adviser during the onset of Covid, will make his first appearance before the inquiry.
During his appearance on the Political Currency podcast with Ed Balls, Osborne stated that he was informed of the presence of offensive and sexist language in the most recent messages shared with the inquiry.
According to him, the WhatsApp messages contained shocking statements from Boris Johnson and his key adviser Dominic Cummings. The language used was not only disgusting, but also misogynistic.
The investigation has already been informed of disrespectful language being used among Johnson’s advisors. In the past few weeks, it was revealed that the UK’s top civil servant, Simon Case, had expressed dissatisfaction to Lee Cain, Johnson’s former director of communications, regarding the influence of Johnson’s now-wife, Carrie Symonds.
Cain, who is scheduled to attend the inquiry on Monday, stated that Symonds has a lack of understanding. In a separate message, Case shared, “I was previously informed that Dom [Dominic Cummings] was the undercover PM. It turns out they were mistaken. I am eager to inform the select committee tomorrow – ‘oh, don’t fret about Dom, the true leader is Carrie.'”
Osborne predicted that more offensive language may be revealed in the upcoming week. He stated, “I anticipate that we will see some extremely surprising and frankly disturbing WhatsApp messages and similar communications from the time when Johnson was in power.”
The individual stated that the messages would reveal the difficult situation experienced by those working at 10 Downing Street and in high-level government positions during that time. Additionally, they may uncover issues that could have serious consequences for the individuals in positions of authority at that time.
Cummings and Johnson have not responded to Osborne’s statements. Previously, Cummings acknowledged that he called Johnson a “total idiot”.
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In the recent past, it was revealed in the investigation that Angela McLean, currently the government’s top scientific advisor, called renowned scientist Carl Heneghan a derogatory term.
Previous reports have refuted any claims that Cummings and Cain called Carrie Johnson “Princess Nut Nut,” however, it has been stated that others within their group did use this nickname.
According to The Guardian, Boris Johnson stated during the inquiry that he was unable to view messages from January 31st to June 7th, 2020. This was despite his phone being active until the following spring.
Rishi Sunak has not provided his WhatsApp conversations from that period, stating that he did not have access to them as he had switched phones multiple times while serving as chancellor.
Source: theguardian.com
