Could be about who should take over from LINO (Leader in name only) Ben Ingham in case of sickness or self-isolation. In fact those “wrestling like cats in a sack”  are government ministers.

Coronavirus update: cabinet squabble over who is to be Boris Johnson’s ‘designated survivor’

The Sunday Times  www.thetimes.co.uk 

Downing Street has drawn up a “designated survivor” plan to ensure the continuity of the government if Boris Johnson or his top aides fall sick, after a host of senior officials were forced to self-isolate last week. Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary who is also first secretary of state, will stand in for the prime minister if he contracts the coronavirus — but the decision has unleashed acidic exchanges among ministers jostling to be next in line.

Johnson has no virus symptoms but has not been tested. Raab has twice tested negative after contracting a cough.

The “designated survivor” plan, which echoes the plot of a television series in which Kiefer Sutherland’s character becomes president after the rest of the cabinet is killed in a terrorist attack, has unleashed a bout of infighting among cabinet ministers over the chain of command.

Raab, Michael Gove, Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, and Matt Hancock, the health secretary, all chair cabinet committees co-ordinating the response. But Gove and Hancock are engaged in a turf war over who is in charge of the domestic strategy.

Gove is accused of “sniping” at Hancock in meetings of the Cobra emergency committee. “Michael thinks the Cabinet Office [which he runs] should be co-ordinating everything,” said a minister.

“Matt thinks that since he’s running the lead department he should be allowed to get on with it.”

Both rank lower on the cabinet hierarchy than Sunak, who has won plaudits for his handling of the economic response to the crisis.

A fellow minister said: “If Boris can’t do his job because he is incapacitated, a lot of people think that Michael should be running the show, not Raab. One of these people is Michael, of course.”

Another source accused ministers of “wrestling like cats in a sack”.

The succession plan has become more pressing after two senior civil servants were forced to self-isolate last week. Helen MacNamara, head of propriety and ethics, was off all week. She was joined by Mark Sweeney, an official who at the start of the week was chairing the main morning meeting of senior officials in Downing Street alongside Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s most senior aide.

“There is a serious concern that a lot of people could end up getting the virus,” said a government source.

By Tuesday, key figures, including the communications team under Lee Cain, were using the Zoom video conferencing app to dial in to key meetings in a bid to minimise unnecessary contact — with even officials physically in Downing Street joining meetings from different rooms to minimise the potential for infection. “We have to practise what we preach,” a No 10 source said.

This Tuesday’s cabinet meeting will also be conducted via a video call.

Under the survival plan every key player has emergency replacements. If Cummings, Cain or other senior staff are unable to work, they will be replaced by Isaac Levido, the Tory campaign director during the general election, or Paul Stephenson, the communications director for Vote Leave.

A special adviser at the department of health is also self-isolating. He shares a flat with a senior aide to Sunak, forcing the Treasury official to move into a hotel.