Dominic Cummings sketches out script as grilling approaches

Dominic Cummings gave evidence to a select committee in March

In the political universe, Dominic Cummings' testimony will be the ultimate box office moment.

By posting tweet, after tweet, after tweet, after tweet in recent days, (64 at the most recent count - keep up!), the former adviser has already sketched out the script - the dramatic revenge of the anti-hero, the witness to the worst moments of the country's most serious crisis in decades, revealing in all its gory detail, what he sees as the truth.

There is no doubt that the former adviser plans to use his appearance at the Health and Science select committees on Wednesday to criticise many elements of the government's handling of the pandemic, and Boris Johnson's own attitude as loudly and publicly as he can.

In classic Cummings style, he has already provoked headlines, stoking anticipation of his moment in front of the committee, as if to make sure that people are really paying attention.

As one of those who knows him well says: "Unlike his public persona he is an introvert who both seems uncomfortable in the limelight, yet courts it when it suits his objectives."

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A loyal ally, they say: "He wants to create better systems, and is willing to upset the status quo to achieve it."

But those objectives are likely to be questioned too.

Mr Cummings is not a neutral observer of what happened, nor was he just a bystander. When vital decisions were taken in Downing Street, he was one of those making them. He had unrivalled power as an adviser in Number 10, who spoke with the prime minister's authority.

In tracking the history of this pandemic, his version of events is relevant, but he cannot separate himself from entirely from what went wrong.

Another insider who has worked alongside him mocks acidly: "The problem with Dom is that he is Dom's idea of a clever person…fingers crossed he can get on with the important business of blogging about what he would do if he ever one day got the chance to run the country."

He had exactly that chance. The former adviser does seem to have a genuine motivation to want to prevent future mistakes. But given how personal some of his attacks have already been on the prime minister, given how spectacular their bust up has been, are we really to believe that his motivations are entirely pure?

And don't forget that beyond Westminster, as he well knows, his reputation with the public is largely based on his own journey out of lockdown which provoked such rage.

MPs are unlikely to resist the temptation to press him on that too.

The session itself, maybe as long as four hours, is planned to feature four broad themes: decisions taken during the first wave, non-pharmaceutical interventions, the vaccine, and the second lockdown. But given the political history and tensions involved, don't be surprised if the session veers off that script.

PS Cummings' planned appearance has already prompted a huge amount of debate over the government's strategy, particularly at the start of the pandemic. A few months ago we spoke to more than 20 ministers, officials and former officials about what happened - you can read that account here.