PM’s ex-aide Cummings slams UK response to virus pandemic

PM’s ex-aide Cummings slams UK response to virus pandemic

Britain's health ministry was a "smoking ruin" last year that failed to secure adequate protective equipment and other supplies early in the Covid-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's former top aide said on Wednesday.

Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson's senior adviser until November, said Britain's more recent success in its rapid inoculation programme was the result of a decision to shift vaccine procurement from the ministry to the prime minister.

His comments to a parliamentary committee were among his first public remarks on the coronavirus response he helped lead and could cause political headaches for Mr Johnson.



The health ministry was "just a smoking