Dominic Cummings: The government "failed" on coronavirus

Former government adviser Dominic Cummings has criticised the government and Boris Johnson for how the coronavirus pandemic was handled.

Speaking to important politicians at an inquiry, he said that the government wasn't as ready to deal with coronavirus as it should have been.

He also said that the Prime Minister and other politicians didn't take the virus seriously enough and acted too slowly.

Boris Johnson said today that he did everything with the aim of protecting the NHS and saving lives. He also said that it was "appallingly difficult" to deal with a pandemic like this one.

Who is Dominic Cummings?

Dominic Cummings left his role at No.10 in November 2020

Dominic Cummings is Prime Minister Boris Johnson's former chief adviser.

He has been involved in British politics for 20 years and when Boris Johnson became Prime Minister in July 2019, Dominic Cummings joined his team as senior advisor. In his role he provided the prime minister with assistance and advice.

He is perhaps best known for his role in Brexit, where he pushed for the UK to leave Europe and managed the 'Vote Leave' campaign, working with Boris Johnson. The campaign was successful, and the UK officially left the EU in January 2020.

He made the news in a big way last year when he was accused of breaking lockdown rules, after he drove his family from their house in London to Barnard Castle, a town in County Durham, where his parents live.

At the time government guidelines said the family should have stayed at home in London.

Mr Cummings said he believed he acted "safely and legally". Boris Johnson defended Mr Cummings' actions, adding he acted "responsibly, legally and with integrity".

Many people thought it was wrong and that he ignored the government guidelines - which he himself had helped set.

Why was he speaking at the inquiry?

MPs are investigating how the government dealt with the coronavirus pandemic and looking into "lessons learned".

The hearing is being led by the Health and Science select committees.

Select Committees are groups of MPs from a range of parties who look at issues surrounding certain subjects.

Dominic Cummings is being questioned because of the key role he held at the time, and because he played a big part in many decisions that were made.

What did he say?

Dominic Cummings shows evidence at the inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic

Mr Cummings was asked about his time working at No. 10 and the decisions made about the pandemic. He was questioned for hours and spoke about many events that took place when the coronavirus was first emerging in the UK.

He was very critical of the government, saying they fell "disastrously short" in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

When speaking to MPs at the inquiry he said the government "failed" when "the public needed us most".

He also apologised for his own mistakes: "Senior ministers, senior officials, senior advisers like me, fell disastrously short" of what the "public expects during a crisis like this".

He added he is sorry for the "mistakes that were made" for those who have lost family and friends during the pandemic.

Mr Cummings said the UK failed to "hear the alarm bells" when the virus hit other countries early in 2020.

He claimed he urged Boris Johnson to put the country into lockdown by mid-March, but there was "no plan" to make this happen.

He said that he believes that many more lives could have been saved if decisions had been taken earlier.

What is his relationship to Boris Johnson?

Dominic Cummings and Boris Johnson worked together for several years

Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings worked closely together for years.

In November 2020 he left his job after reports of disagreements at Downing Street.

Some supporters of the Prime Minister have said that Dominic Cummings isn't to be trusted. They say he wants to get revenge on Boris Johnson because he lost his job.

But others say that Dominic Cummings was right in the middle of things when big decisions were made about coronavirus, and that it's important to listen to his views on what he thinks went wrong.

What have the government said?

Boris Johnson has said he takes full responsibility for how the government dealt with the pandemic and is "truly sorry" for the suffering people have gone through.

He says he did everything with the aim to save lives and protect the NHS.

Mr Johnson said that none of the decisions about the pandemic were easy and it was "appallingly difficult" to deal with a pandemic of this size.

He said the public inquiry on coronavirus will get to the bottom of the issues including when lockdowns were introduced.

An independent public inquiry into the handling of the pandemic is expected to be held in spring 2022. This will look at the government's actions and how they handled the pandemic.