Boris Johnson asked Chris Whitty ‘if Brits could cure Covid by blowing hairdryer up their nose’, inquiry reveals
BORIS Johnson asked Britain's chief doctor if shoving a blowdryer up your nose could cure Coronavirus, according to Dominic Cummings.
In evidence submitted to the Covid Inquiry, the former top aide to the ex-PM claimed his boss was inspired by a YouTube video suggesting hair styling tools could help end the pandemic.
Mr Cummings slammed the question, which was put without a hint of irony to Britain's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and Chief Scientific Officer, as a "low point" of the pandemic.
He said: "A low point was when (Boris) circulated a video of a guy blowing a special hairdryer up his nose ‘to kill Covid’ and asked the CSA (Chief Scientific Adviser) and CMO (Chief Medical Officer) what they thought."
At an oral hearing of the inquiry yesterday, the ex-No10 chief also described top ministers as “c***s” and “morons” in potty-mouthed texts sent through his time in charge.
And he revealed the state of Whitehall pandemic planning when the virus hit was "terrifyingly s***" and blamed health officials for lying to cover it up.
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Daytime TV presenters were forced to keep apologising for the language as the one time Brexit-hero's sweary WhatsApps were read out live.
Yet unrepentant Mr Cummings insisted: “My appalling language is my own, but my judgement of a lot of senior people was widespread. It understated the position as events showed in 2020.”
Lifting the lid on the chaos of the early days of the outbreak, he used his four-hour evidence session to savage Mr Johnson leadership.
He claimed “pretty much everyone” in Downing St secretly called him a “trolly” for veering all over the place.
In one exchange with then-comms director Lee Cain, Mr Cummings rages: “I’ve literally said [the] same thing ten f***ing times and he still won’t absorb it. I’m just exhausted talking to him and stopping the trolly”.
Slouching in a creased shirt for the marathon grilling, the scruffy svengali also let rip at the “bomb site” Cabinet Office, “proven liar” Matt Hancock and the government’s “joke” of a Covid plan.
He said vulnerable groups were “appallingly neglected” and tighter border controls may have prevented lockdowns.
But he had a rough ride from lawyer Hugo Keith KC over his notorious Barnard Castle dash during lockdown.
Mr Cummings admitted the saga “did cause a lot of people pain” and that the handling was “a disaster”.
He also told the probe it was “completely crackers” someone like him was brought in to work in No10.
Fresh texts sent during the pandemic were shown today as Mr Cummings and Mr Cain appeared to give evidence at the Covid inquiry.
Brexit mastermind Mr Cummings was Mr Johnson's right-hand-man in No10 but has since become his arch critic.
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Another exchange from mid March 2020 - before lockdown was imposed - show Mr Cummings warning Mr Johnson the Cabinet Office was “terrifyingly s***”.
He added that the department - responsible for cross-government coordination - was a "bomb site" and "dumpster fire".