'Poisonous' Cummings blamed for toxic culture

Dominic Cummings "poisoned the atmosphere" of Boris Johnson's Downing Street during the Covid crisis, the official inquiry into the pandemic has found, saying he helped create a toxic and macho culture with the full connivance of the then prime minister.

- Peter Walker Jessica Murray

Johnson's chief aide "strayed far from the proper role of a special adviser", the report finds, making "key decisions in 10 Downing Street which were for the prime minister to make". This was "an arrangement with which, it must be acknowledged, Mr Johnson was content", the report's authors said.

Cummings "materially contributed to the toxic and sexist workplace culture at the heart of the UK government", the report says. It notes he "used offensive, sexualised and misogynistic language".

Many of the most damning elements of the report from the inquiry's second module, on the role of government in the pandemic, centre on what is painted as a strident and abrasive environment, often instigated by Cummings.