“The defendants have been charged under a section of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 which requires donors of over £500 to a political party to give details of the source of the funds.”

www.markpack.org.uk 

The BBC reports a dramatic twist in a long running saga:

Seven people have been charged with electoral offences by police investigating a missing £10.25m loan to Northampton Town Football Club.

The six men and one woman have been charged over donations made to Northampton South Conservative Association in 2014.

It is alleged they failed to ensure the true source of the money was disclosed.

They are due to appear before Northampton Magistrates’ Court on 16 July.

The hearings will take place almost six years after the launch of Operation Tuckhill, the police inquiry into the disappearance of money loaned by Northampton Borough Council to the football club to pay for the redevelopment of its East Stand and nearby land.

The stand remains uncompleted.

The defendants have been charged under a section of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 which requires donors of over £500 to a political party to give details of the source of the funds. [BBC]

To give some context, earlier this year a KPMG report found serious problems over the loan:

A £10.25m council loan to a football club for use on a stadium redevelopment had “serious failings”, a report found.

Northampton Borough Council loaned the money, which has since disappeared, to Northampton Town in 2013 and 2014 to rebuild a stand and develop land.

The Public Interest Report “calls into question the legality” of decision-making over the deal…

It found “serious failings” in the council’s “arrangements” over the loan and said it should have been possible to “foresee the risk of the council being exposed to financial loss or liability” and it “should have mitigated that risk accordingly”.

A failure to do this “rendered the decisions… unlawful”, the report said…

The report authors were told by officers and councillors there had been pressure, “mainly” from David Mackintosh, the then Conservative leader of the council, to complete the deal. [BBC]

Apparently a school newspaper report at Eton College described Boris Johnson (playing the Eton Wall Game of course) in these terms: “Watch the Blond Behemoth crud relentlessly through the steaming pile of purple-and-orange heavyweights.” 

Boris Johnson continues to “crud” his way through politics but for how much longer will it work with the electorate?

Colyton parish council scores again in its bid to become East Devon’s very own Handforth, with Honiton town council in close contention.

(Andrew Parr is now in his 14th or 15th consecutive term of office as chairman of Colyton parish council. No doubt he is what is often referred to in political circles as “a safe pair of hands”.) – Owl

Francesca Evans seaton.nub.news 

Howard West has resigned from Colyton Parish Council, saying he had ‘reached the end of my tether’

A member of Colyton Parish Council has resigned, saying there is too much “animosity and bad feeling” between the communities of Colyton and neighbouring Colyford.

Howard West announced his immediate resignation following Monday evening’s council meeting.

In a letter sent to the parish clerk and all councillors, he wrote: “It is with some regret that I decided to resign as a Colyton parish councillor with immediate effect, as at the end of last evening’s council meeting.

“I have put every effort that I could muster to support the work of the council, but I feel that I have reached the end of my tether in witnessing what is going on, or not going on, in the council on a day to day basis.

“There is so much animosity and bad feeling towards Colyford in general, and I feel that I have failed in trying to bring the two communities together, as has been seen in the last few months in particular.

“At the same time, I have done everything I could to assist in solving many of the Colyton-based matters, as and when these have occurred.”

Mr West also raised issue with long-serving council chairman Andrew Parr being re-elected for another year.

He continued: “You heard in my resignation speech that I feel strongly that the council chairman should stand down after three years, to make way for a replacement with his or her ways of chairing the council.

“Our current chairman Andrew Parr has now been re-elected to serve his 14th or 15th consecutive term of office, which I and others feel is not good for the community as a whole.”

Mr West called for a vote of no confidence in Cllr Parr in December 2020, which failed by one vote.

He also verbally resigned from the parish council in October 2020 over arguments surrounding the Neighbourhood Plan, but later rescinded this before submitting a formal written notice of resignation.

The process of establishing a Neighbourhood Plan, which aims to guide future sustainable change, growth and development within the parish, has been plagued with controversy over the past five years, with claims of “turf wars” between Colyton and Colyford and a mass resignation of volunteers back in 2016, which included Mr West.

Commenting on the Neighbourhood Plan in his resignation from Colyton Parish Council this week, Mr West said: “The way that the Neighbourhood Plan was pushed through without any real discussions prior to both the Regulation 14 and 16 processes, was unforgivable, and many important comments received during the process were not even discussed by the council.

“I will not say any more about many other matters of my concerns. However, I do hope that Colyton Parish Council does face up to these problems, and the future situation improves dramatically.”

Colyton Parish Council declined the opportunity to respond to Mr West’s comments.

Mr West’s resignation leaves one vacancy on the council, with three having been filled by an election last month.

The current vacancy will be filled by election if 10 or more electors call for a vote, or otherwise will be filled by co-option.

Attempt to save 3 acre site in Sidmouth Road on the edge of Colyton (with “planning potential”) by crowd funding a bid. 

“Lewis Haye (formerly Seller’s Grave) is for sale by sealed tender on 30th June, at a starting price of £60,000.

The land is Green Wedge and in this time of Climate Emergency we desperately want to protect this beautiful landscape from commercial development – to plant trees and wildflowers for the local community to enjoy, both now and in future years.

The land will be held in trust and fund are for the purchase of the land and legal fees associated with this and setting up of the trust to maintain the site. “

More details and contacts here www.crowdfunder.co.uk

Boris Johnson is to strip the Electoral Commission of the power to prosecute law-breaking, just weeks after it launched an investigation into his controversial flat refurbishment.

www.independent.co.uk

The watchdog has been threatened with curbs ever since it embarrassed senior Tory figures by fining Vote Leave for busting spending limits for the Brexit referendum.

Now ministers have announced that a new Elections Bill will remove its ability to prosecute criminal offences under electoral law – arguing it “wastes public money”.

The watchdog launched an immediate protest, warning the move would “place a fetter on the commission which would limit its activity”.

The shake-up was condemned as a “thinly-veiled government power grab” by the Electoral Reform Society.

Cat Smith, Labour’s shadow minister for democracy, said: “It is not for any government to dictate the priorities of an independent watchdog. This is yet another attempt by the Conservatives to rig democracy in their favour.”

Parliament’s standards chief has stepped back from her own probe into flat makeover – which saw a Tory donor originally fund the lavish redecoration – while the commission does its work.

Amid that furore, it was widely anticipated that the government would back away from changes that would be seen as enfeebling the commission.

But Chloe Smith, the constitution minister, insisted “the proper place for criminal investigations and prosecutions relating to electoral law is with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service”.

“In recent years, the Electoral Commission has sought to develop the capability to bring criminal offences before the courts,” she said. “This has never been agreed by the government or Parliament.

“Having the Electoral Commission step into this space would risk wasting public money as well as present potential conflicts of interest for a body responsible for providing advice and guidance on electoral law to initiate proceedings which might depend on the very advice that was given.”

Jess Garland, the Electoral Reform Society’s policy director, said: “The government is on the one hand creating new rules for the Electoral Commission to enforce – while at the same time reducing its independence, extending political influence over what should be a neutral body,” said.

“The Electoral Commission is the UK’s number one experts on Britain’s complex electoral law, so it is vital it retains the ability to raise alleged wrongdoing in the courts.”

The shake-up will also see a Commons committee – with a Conservative majority – set strategic priorities, in a further perceived undermining of the watchdog’s impartiality.

A commission spokesperson said: “Parliamentary oversight and scrutiny of the commission’s activities are essential in ensuring the commission commands trust and confidence.

“It is important, however, that the commission’s independence is preserved and that it is able to continue to deliver all duties within its remit, including effective enforcement.

“Some changes announced today place a fetter on the commission which would limit its activity. We will work with the government to explore these areas.”

In addition to planning reforms, there is evidence of tactical voting with Labour voters switching to support the Lib Dems in this instance. The message to opposition parties is that they need wins like this to rebuild their credibility, and they probably have to do this collaboratively. – Owl

www.independent.co.uk

A defiant Boris Johnson has told critics of his planning shake-up they have got it wrong, despite his humiliation in the Chesham and Amersham by-election.

The prime minister called suggestions that the Conservatives are losing their Southern heartland voters “a bit peculiar, a bit bizarre”.

And he insisted: “I think there’s some misunderstanding about the planning reforms – even some wilful misunderstanding on the part of some of our opponents.

“What we want is sensible plans to allow development on brownfield sites. We’re not going to build on greenbelt sites, we’re not going to build all over the countryside.”

The triumphant Liberal Democrats have pointed to anger over the top-down planning changes as a key reason for the shock overturning of a 16,000 Tory majority in the true-blue Buckinghamshire constituency.

Some believe the shake-up – which critics say hands too much power to developers, undermining local democracy – may be dead in the water, with the government fearing a further backlash.

But Mr Johnson appeared to point to the construction of the HS2 high-speed rail line as the reason for his crushing defeat, referring to “particular circumstances there”.

And he defended the planning changes, claiming they are vital to enabling young people to get onto the housing ladder – something rejected by a recent Commons inquiry.

“The young people growing up in this country should have the chance of homeownership and that’s what we’re focusing on,” the prime minister said, on a college visit.

“I think it’s a great dream for young people in their 20s, 30s that they currently don’t have in the way that they perhaps had a few decades ago.

“And that’s something that we want to bring back, we want to make it easier. And that’s what we’re all about.”

Ed Davey, celebrating his party’s “best-ever by-election result”, called the planning controversy “symbolic” of the way Southern voters are being ignored by the Tories.

It would “give so much power to developers and take them away from communities and not result in the affordable housing people need”, the Lib Dem leader warned.

But the prime minister’s spokesman played down any immediate rethink, telling journalists: “I’m not aware of any planned changes.”

Speaking in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, Mr Johnson also said he is “very confident” that the remaining coronavirus restrictions in England will be lifted on 19 July.

Again, calling it “a terminus date” he said: “I think that’s certainly what the data continues to indicate.”

And he backed Matt Hancock despite the revelation that he called the health secretary “f***ing hopeless” in embarrassing messages revealed by Dominic Cummings.

Mr Johnson said: “I have complete confidence in Matt and indeed all of the government who have been dealing with Covid-19 during the pandemic.”

So, to the classic by-election question: how much does it matter?

Extract from Telegraph “Front Bench”

The usual argument is that by-elections should never be extrapolated and there are reasons to think that this morning. 

Unlike Hartlepool, where the Government picked up a seat, this is a resumption of normal service, where voters punish the ruling party.

There were also two key local issues making the Conservatives particularly unpopular: HS2, which cuts through the constituency, and the possibility of big new housing developments under the Government’s planning reforms. 

Indeed, the fact that Labour mustered just 622 votes suggests there was a strong element of tactical voting (although that is an abysmal result for Labour nonetheless).

And yet, this was a huge swing – the 14th biggest in a by-election ever. And the fact that it was the Lib Dems, rather than Labour, lends it more significance.

Just as there is a political realignment going on in the North and Midlands that has allowed the Tories to bag dozens of seats, there appears to be a concurrent realignment in the South.

Like the Conservatives in 2017, albeit on a much smaller scale, the Lib Dems fell badly short in 2019 but did finish second in many places that they hadn’t been competitive in before.

Chesham and Amersham is one of them. In 2017 they were third and in 2015, fourth. 

Indeed, this result wasn’t actually completely out of the blue. The Lib Dems went from zero seats to majority control of Amersham council at the local elections earlier this year, suggesting there’s genuine substance to this result.

There are other signs of realignment too. In 2015 Ukip came second. That’s an indicator of the change in the local area, driven by wealthy millennials moving out of London and bringing their liberalness with them. 

The question for both the Tories and the Lib Dems is whether this is the first manifestation of a wider trend. Is this the southern corollary of realignment that is turning the North blue and transforming the Conservative party?

If so, can the Tory majority survive it? 

Of course, that’s reading rather a lot into a single by-election, and more swallows will be needed before the Lib Dems can declare it summer. 

Even in the medium term, though, this shock result is likely to have significant consequences. For one, the Tory backbenches are only likely to get more jittery over planning reforms. 

For the Lib Dems, though, this is a vital moment in proving that they are still relevant and building momentum towards the next election.

First from the BBC Local News:

Cornwall needs ‘triple effort’ to combat Covid-19 spike

Dr Ruth Goldstein, from Cornwall Council’s public health department, said the majority of cases were the Delta variant and warned that the numbers were expected to rise.

“It is not a situation that Cornwall has found itself in in the last 18 months,” she said.

Dr Goldstein said public health officials had started to see a rise around 10 days ago among people aged 16 to 25, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported.

“Initially it started around the Penryn campus [of the University of Exeter],” she said.

“That combined with the half-term break, where we have people from Cornwall going up country to see family and friends and we had visitors coming to Cornwall.”

Dr Goldstein added that Cornwall had a higher number of restaurants and bars per person compared to other parts of the country, which could also be contributing.

A number of hospitality venues have had to close in places such as St Ives, Falmouth and Newquay in recent days due to staff self-isolating.

Dr Goldstein said venues were being responsible by testing staff and isolating them where necessary….

…”We know we will have a lot of people coming into Cornwall, which we want and is fantastic for our businesses,” she said.

“But this situation we are in now, we all have to triple our efforts if we are going to stop this rise in cases.”

(When does Simon Jupp intend to start his pub crawl? – Owl)

G7 towns are centre of Cornwall’s spike in Covid cases

Aaron Greenaway www.cornwalllive.com

The latest UK Government coronavirus data reveals that areas of Cornwall which played host to the G7 Summit and students are primarily driving the large increase in cases.

The areas of Falmouth, where G7 media were based, and Penryn, home to Cornwall’s university campus, in addition to St Ives and Carbis Bay, which hosted the gathering of world leaders, are together registering more than half – 53 per cent – of cases in Cornwall for the seven days ending June 12. This was the middle day of the three-day summit.

Falmouth and St Ives were also the focus of protest groups, with thousands of people taking to the streets.

It comes amid a spike of the Delta variant – first identified in India – of the coronavirus across the UK, which led to Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing a delay in the final release of lockdown restrictions until at least July 19.

The largest outbreak in Cornwall is currently in the Ponsanooth, Mabe Burnthouse and Constantine area, home to the Penryn Campus shared by Falmouth University and the University of Exeter, with 57 cases, followed by Falmouth North with 38 cases, Falmouth East with 37 cases, Penryn with 16 cases as well as Falmouth West and South which has 10 cases.

The coronavirus case map for mid and West Cornwall, which represents the majority of Cornwall’s coronavirus outbreak (Image: UK Government)

In St Ives and Carbis Bay, home to the G7 summit, there were 44 cases reported in St Ives and Halsetown and 19 cases in Towednack, Lelant and Carbis Bay.

There were 411 cases reported in Cornwall for the seven days to June 12, with the totals for the above-listed areas representing 53 per cent of the total.

A heatmap on the coronavirus dashboard which provides a breakdown for cases per 100,000 for different age groups also reveals that the age group with the largest number of infections covers those aged between 20 and 24 years old, with 461.5 cases per 100,000 people, closely followed by 15 to 19-year-olds with 267.5 cases per 100,000 people.

It represents two age groups which are yet to be mass vaccinated against the disease and comes as the Government has announced that all those over 18 can now book their vaccinations.

In comparison, older age groups which represent those more vulnerable to death and serious illness from the coronavirus and who are mostly vaccinated, are currently reporting significantly fewer cases, which, in turn, has led to a less noticeable impact on Cornwall’s hospitals.

Ruth Goldstein, from Cornwall Council’s public health department recently revealed that the spike seen in coronavirus cases started with an outbreak at the Penryn campus of the University. She said: “Initially it started around the Penryn campus (of the university) and it was easy to understand how that happened as this was the area in Cornwall where we have the highest density of young people.

“That combined with the half-term break, where we have people from Cornwall going upcountry to see family and friends and we had visitors coming to Cornwall.

Government heat map of coronavirus cases in Cornwall by age group (darker colour represents more cases) (Image: UK Government)

“All these things combined have led to this increase in positive cases.”

Cornwall Council’s public health team has also called on people working in the hospitality industry, which also predominantly features younger people, to ensure they take their twice-weekly coronavirus tests to keep themselves and others safe.

Director of public health for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Rachel Wigglesworth, explained that while Cornwall’s case rate is still below the national average, it has risen sharply and now is “the time to act and bring the rate back down”.

She said: “We’re asking anyone working in the hospitality industry to help themselves stay safe and protect their work colleagues by testing twice weekly using rapid lateral flow tests.

“While our case rate is still below the national average it has risen sharply.

“Now is the time to act to bring the rate back down. I would urge everyone to make twice-weekly testing part of their routine so we can identify cases even when people have no symptoms. Rapid Lateral Flow Tests are free of charge and can be picked up from your local pharmacy or ordered online.”

(Online article contains more detailed data)

A correspondent writes:

We could not have views more diametrically opposed than Owl’s and Paul S’s on the subject of the political affiliation of long-distance EDDC councillor Susie Bond.  I am firmly in the Owl camp.

Ms Bond was elected around the time of the Graham Brown scandal, at a time when calling yourself a Tory would have been a vote loser.  It made sense to be an independent.  Especially as she was identifying strongly with her ward and its appalling flooding problems.

However, as time went on, it was obvious that Ms Bond was closer in political terms to Tories than other Independents. This is fair enough – independents are on a spectrum just as party councillors are.  She made it quite clear that she did not feel close to other independent councillors (particularly East Devon Alliance) – always being careful to distance herself from them when it was needed – again, fair enough. But indicative of her lack of identification with other independents.

After the rout of Tories in the last election however, she joined the caucus around Ben Ingham.  Yes, other independents did too, but most of them saw the (blue) light quite quickly and abandoned his cabinet and sought to distance themselves from him – I do not recall Ms Bond doing this or criticising his increasing identification with Tories (of which he is one again after being Independent then East Devon Alliance (Leader) , then Independent again).

Note, too, that, as she says, she did not vote for Andrew Moulding (Con) bit DID vote for another Conservative councillor, not an Independent.

As for councillors not living in their constituency – true the pandemic made it impossible to hold a by-election for some of the time but one has to say that not living in the ward means she has had no ear to the ground in what goes on there – it was perhaps disingenuous to say nothing about her move until quite recently, and travelling from Berkshire for one physical meeting where she  supported Tories.

I think Ms Bond did right by her community on many hyper-local issues -but on non-local issues she showed a different side.

A union is demanding a 12.5 per cent pay rise for NHS nurses after finding the increase in average house prices over the last decade had been six times that of an experienced practitioner’s pay.

www.independent.co.uk

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) accused the government of perpetuating an injustice against nurses and said it should instead “tip the scales” in their favour. A planned 1 per cent basic pay hike was not enough, the union said.

The RCN cited analysis by the consultants London Economics, which found the total pay of a nurse in the NHS’s band five with seven years’ experience had risen only 9 per cent since 2011, from £32,440 to £35,340. Meanwhile, average house prices had gone up 55 per cent, from £165,600 to £256,400.

Total pay includes overtime, unsociable hours and on-call pay.

Experienced healthcare assistants and practitioners in lower bands – three and four – saw their pay rise by 12 and 9 per cent respectively over the decade, well below the increase in retail price index inflation, which was 31 per cent.

Graham Revie, chair of the RCN’s trade union committee, said: “The government needs to tip the scales in nursing’s favour to stop this injustice.

“The proposed 1 per cent pay rise won’t come close to remedying the suppression of nursing salaries over the past 10 years. It is officially a pay cut now that inflation has risen above 1 per cent as expected.”

And the union’s acting general secretary, Pat Cullen, added: “The impact of nursing staff being priced out of the neighbourhoods where they work is devastating not just for them but their patients and patients’ families.

“Communities in which nursing staff can’t afford to live are communities at risk of poor health and patient care.”

All UK nursing staff should get a 12.5 per cent pay rise, the union insisted.

The Independent has contacted the Department of Health and Social Care and the Treasury for comment.

Ministers have faced widespread criticism for their decision to implement only a 1 per cent pay rise for NHS staff, having spent more than a year expressing their thanks and admiration for health workers’ efforts in tackling the coronavirus crisis.

In March, more than 250,000 NHS employees reported having been made ill by work-related stress during the pandemic, while one in five said they had considered leaving the service.

NHS bands – what do they mean?

Here’s what duties the RCN says these staff can expect to perform

• A band three healthcare assistant may have an important role in the accident and emergency department or the operating theatre
• A band four assistant practitioner’s job can involve administering catheters and managing wounds
• Most nurses are in band five, and their seniority is on the level of administrators who run GP practices, according to the NHS website. They may work in intensive care, mental health or another area, and can be responsible for monitoring patients and administering medicine

Meanwhile, one of the country’s biggest unions is warning that health workers employed by private companies may miss out on that 1 per cent rise promised by ministers to NHS staff.

Unison said in a statement: “Unison is calling on all private companies running health service contracts to pledge at least to match any government pay rise for workers directly employed by the NHS.

“Ministers should also increase funding to trusts to end the growing gap between the salaries of NHS staff and colleagues employed by private firms. Unison wants NHS trusts and boards to grant new contracts only to companies that pledge to equal health service pay rates.”

Outsourcing giants “must also improve sick pay, overtime payments and annual leave allocation in line with NHS terms and conditions”, the union said.

Sidmouth’s notorious crumbling cliffs have once again been pictured crashing into the sea.

Chloe Parkman www.devonlive.com

The town’s red cliffs are well-known for tumbling onto the ground below with the coastguard issuing a number of warnings to the public, urging them to avoid the area.

The most recent cliff fall took place yesterday (June 16) at around 4pm and was captured by Daryl Dudley Photography.

Daryl says he did not hear any sound prior to the landslide as he was stood quite a distance away, but he spotted the rest dust cloud shortly after it happened.

In the last three weeks, there have been at least four cliff collapses in the East Devon town, all of which on land which is owned and managed by the District Council.

The spate of recent falls prompted Beer Coastguard team to issue a warning to the public.

They posted: “Another cliff fall just happened to the East of the last one between Sidmouth and Salcombe Regis.

“Stay away from the cliffs, DO NOT go on the beach below Salcombe hill.”

Last week, DevonLive reported that no immediate work will be carried out on Sidmouth’s crumbling cliffs which have seen a spate of collapses in recent weeks.

Cliff falls in Sidmouth (Image: Daryl Dudley Photography.)

While long term work on the Sidmouth and East Beach Management Plan scheme, which aims to reduce the rate of erosion, is being carried out, the cabinet recently voted to pause the current working option to review other possible options now that the scheme is eligible for more government funding.

A spokesman for East Devon District Council (EDDC) said that the risk of cliff falls is well signed in this area, so members of the public should adhere to warnings to stay well clear of the cliffs and not access East Beach as it is closed for safety reasons, but that no immediate work was planned to address the recent cliff falls.

They added: “The locations of the recent cliff falls at East Beach/Pennington Point are outside land owned and managed by East Devon District Council.

“The risk of cliff falls is well signed in this area, so members of the public should adhere to warnings to stay well clear of the cliffs and not access East Beach as it is closed for safety reasons.

“Cliff falls are a natural and unpredictable occurrence along the East Devon coast, this is because the rock from which the cliffs are formed is soft and therefore prone to rock falls and landslides, which can happen at any time, although heavy rainfall can trigger incidences.

“We recommend that people enjoy East Devon cliffs from a distance and do not climb or sit directly beneath them. Please always follow the warning signs.

“Work on the Sidmouth and East Beach Management Plan (BMP) scheme continues. It aims to reduce the risk of flooding to Sidmouth by maintaining the standard of defences along Sidmouth beach and to reduce the rate of erosion to the cliffs east of the town (and therefore the rate of exposure of the east side of Sidmouth to coastal conditions).

“The EDDC Cabinet recently voted to pause the current working option to review other possible options now that the scheme is eligible for more government funding.

“A sub group is currently reviewing the scope for this and will report back at the next BMP advisory group in July.

“A temporary rock revetment on East Beach and planning permission for this will be explored if the new scheme means a delay to work starting.”

Simon Jupp is lobbying hard for the hospitality sector. But wasn’t last year’s “Eat out to help out” campaign thought to have been a significant factor in fuelling the second wave? – Owl

Simon Jupp Conservative, East Devon

East Devon is back open for business, but step into any pub, café, hotel or restaurant and it is clear that it is struggling with the impact of social distancing. Does my right hon. Friend agree with me that social distancing in hospitality must go next month to give these businesses a fighting chance of survival?

Steve Barclay The Chief Secretary to the Treasury

My hon. Friend is right to highlight the importance of the review of social distancing that the Government are committed to undertaking, and that will obviously shape the approach. We have said that we will have a review, and we are very committed to that. The future beyond step 4 will therefore need to be taken in the round, shaped by the data in that review.

Anyone spotted our mystery man on his mission: as we head towards summer and hopefully some more fine weather, I plan to visit as many pubs as possible in the patch.?

After experiencing a stint of warm weather across the county over the last few days, many of us have flocked to our local beauty spots in order to take advantage of the glorious sunshine.

Chloe Parkman www.devonlive.com

Beaches and parks have been packed out across Devon with people settling down for picnics and barbecues.

However, it appears that after their outing, some groups have left decided to leave a little more than just their footprints in the sand.

On Saturday, June 12, one Exmouth resident – who wishes to remain anonymous – discovered mounds of litter left by louts on the Maer including 300 hippy crack canisters.

The anonymous litter picker says that the waste was likely a result of a ‘party’ the group had the night before.

The rubbish pile was a mixture of plastic bottles, glass bottles and empty cardboard boxes as well as the canisters.

And it’s not the first time these silver bullet-like canisters have been spotted strewn across parks and public spaces in Devon.

Last year, Devon Live reported that these Nitrous Oxide canisters or what is more commonly referred to as “nos”, ”hippy crack” or “laughing gas” was increasingly prevalent throughout lockdown.

Although they may look harmless, they are the evidence of a drug-craze that frequently sweeps the country in the sunny months.

Mounds of rubbish found on the Maer in Exmouth (Image: Anonymous)

The drug is sold cheaply online making it easily accessible. It is often sold supposedly to make soda or whipped cream.

In 2015 Devon and Cornwall Police issued a warning to youngsters about the dangers of inhaling the gas after finding cannisters littered around a Devon town.

Police said some people have been taking to the gas for a “cheap and quick high, starving the brain of oxygen.”

A spokesperson for the police said at the time: “We have noticed an increase in used Nitrous Oxide canisters scattered around the town.

“They can cause instantaneous death through cardiac arrest or other life threatening conditions. Fainting, dizziness and a decrease in mental performance are minor side effects but the risk of ongoing health issues is well documented.”

Is this another Orpington moment as the Liberal Democrats take the safest of safe Conservative seats?

The constituency of Chesham and Amersham has been Tory ever since it was formed in 1974. A conservative majority of 16,223 has been swept away and replaced by a Lib Dem majority of 8,028.

Owl thinks this is a vote of no confidence in the Tory planning reforms.

Heather Stewart http://www.theguardian.com 

The Liberal Democrats have pulled off an extraordinary victory in the Buckinghamshire constituency of Chesham and Amersham, taking the formerly safe seat from the Tories in a byelection.

In a shock result, Lib Dem Sarah Green secured 21,517 votes, leaving the Conservative Peter Fleet trailing with 13,489, and giving the Lib Dems a majority of 8,028.

The contest was called after the death of the local MP Cheryl Gillan, who had represented the constituency since 1992 and held it in 2019 with a majority of 16,223.

Ed Davey’s party will hope the surprise win shows that a swath of seats across the home counties could now be within their grasp at the next general election.

Davey said his party secured a huge swing of 25 points to win Chesham and Amersham, claiming: “The Tory ‘blue wall’ is beginning to crumble … This is a huge victory for the Liberal Democrats. The people of Chesham and Amersham have sent a shockwave through British politics.

“We were told it was impossible for any party to beat the Tories here in Buckinghamshire. We were told this seat was too safe and the Tories too strong. This Liberal Democrat win has proved them utterly wrong.”

Green said she was “humbled by the faith you have placed in me” and promised she would hold the government to account.

“This Conservative party has taken people across the country for granted for far too long,” she said.

Senior Conservative figures including party co-chair Amanda Milling had poured into Chesham and Amersham to canvass in recent days, determined to show that the “blue wall” across the home counties remains intact.

Boris Johnson also made a visit to the area to back Fleet earlier this month, telling local paper the Bucks Free Press (BFP): “I think he’s a superb candidate, he’s a local man, he’s lived here for a while and has a long career in business. He has a huge amount to offer parliament and the constituents.”

The prime minister highlighted hopes of turning the nearby Chilterns into a national park, and ensuring that development takes place on brownfield land, not the green belt. And he claimed that if Fleet won, he would be the tallest Tory MP. The BFP said the MP, who towered over Johnson as they toured the streets, was “around 6ft 9in”.

The result will alarm Tory strategists at Conservative HQ. Johnson has made significant gains in former Labour-held areas in the Midlands and the north-east, including snatching the Hartlepool seat from Keir Starmer’s party last month in a rare gain for a governing party in a byelection.

But he also needs to avoid alienating his party’s more traditional supporters.

Some home counties Tory MPs, including former prime minister Theresa May, who represents Maidenhead, and Damian Green, whose seat is Ashford, in Kent, have recently been highly critical of Conservative policies, including Johnson’s planning reforms and his cuts to overseas aid.

The Lib Dems appear to have succeeded in picking off disenchanted Conservative voters in Thursday’s byelection, and Davey will hope it marks the beginning of a renaissance for his party after a very disappointing performance in the 2019 general election.

At last month’s local elections, the Lib Dems took control of Amersham town council.

Lib Dem activists on the ground had insisted the race for the seat looked “neck and neck”, with former Tory voters on the doorsteps complaining they felt neglected by the governing party.

The Lib Dems said the government’s proposed planning reforms had also featured heavily in the campaign.

Turnout in the byelection was just over 52%. Green candidate Carolyne Culver got 1,480 votes, with Labour’s Natasa Pantelic receiving 622.

(Owl hopes Simon Jupp keeps testing himself before he goes on his well publicised pub crawl)

Chloe Parkman www.devonlive.com

According to the latest figures, there are currently 37 coronavirus clusters across Devon, with one area of the county containing more cases than any other.

Figures released by the Government on June 16, relating to positive coronavirus cases between June 5 and June 11, show that Exeter has nine areas reporting a cluster.

A cluster is when more than two positive coronavirus cases are recorded in the same seven-day-period in one area.

Central Exeter has the highest case rate across the city, which is divided into 15 Middle Layer Super Output Areas [MSOA], with 15 cases recorded between June 5 and 11, with a rate of 124.1 cases per 100,000 people.

The figures released today (June 16) show Exeter recorded two new clusters, along with one in West Devon, one in Torbay and two in Plymouth.

The MSOA areas which currently contain the most cases in Devon are Exeter Central with 15 cases, Pennsylvania and University with 12 cases and Teignmouth South with 6 cases.

The Government’s coronavirus cluster map splits the country into areas of roughly 7,500 people, based on the 2011 census, known as Middle Super Output Areas (MSOAs).

The map highlights areas where three or more coronavirus cases have been reported for a week period, with the numbers coming off of the map a week after being confirmed positive.

Areas not highlighted do not necessarily have no coronavirus cases in them, as the data does not highlight or count areas with less than three cases in order to protect individuals privacy – meaning that if an area has one or two cases, it will display as 0 to 2 cases.

Below we take a look at the current coronavirus clusters across Devon: New Positives 05-June to 11-June

Note: The figure on the left is how many Covid cases there currently are in the area and the figure in () is how many Covid cases there were in the area yesterday.

Areas in Devon that are not listed below are not currently showing a cluster, but could have up to two positive cases in the seven-day-period.

Exeter / East Devon

East Devon Honiton South & West 3 (0)

Exeter Pennsylvania & University 12 (10)

Exeter Mincinglake & Beacon Heath 4 (4)

Exeter St James’s Park & Hoopern 5 (4)

Exeter Heavitree West & Polsloe 3 (4)

Exeter Heavitree East & Whipton South 5 (4)

Exeter Central Exeter 15 (11)

Exeter St Leonard’s 4 (4)

Exeter St Thomas East 3 (0)

Exeter Middlemoor & Sowton 4 (3)

Mid Devon

Mid Devon Bampton, Holcombe & Westleigh 4 (3)

Mid Devon Cullompton 5 (3)

Mid Devon Crediton 3 (3)

North Devon

North Devon Woolacombe, Georgeham & Croyde 3 (3)

North Devon South Molton 4 (3)

South Hams

South Hams Kingsbridge 4 (4)

Teignbridge

Teignbridge Tedburn, Shillingford & Higher Ashton 3 (3)

Teignbridge Teignmouth South 6 (6)

West Devon

West Devon Okehampton 5(5)

West Devon Lifton, Lamerton & Bridestowe 3 (0)

West Devon Tavistock 3 (3)

Torbay

Torbay Brixham Town 3 (0)

Plymouth

Plymouth Glenholt & Widewell 6 (4)

Plymouth Higher Compton & Eggbuckland 5 (5)

Plymouth North Prospect 3 (3)

Plymouth Keyham 5 (4)

Plymouth Plympton St Mary 3 (3)

Plymouth Plympton Underwood 3 (0)

Plymouth Ford & Blockhouse Park 3 (3)

Plymouth Efford, Laira & Crabtree 4 (3)

Plymouth Plympton St Maurice 3 (3)

Plymouth Mutley 6 (6)

Plymouth Lipson 4 (4)

Plymouth City Centre, Barbican & Sutton Harbour 4 (4)

Plymouth Cattedown & Prince Rock 3 (0)

Plymouth Millbay & Stonehouse 5 (6)

Plymouth Plymstock Hooe & Oreston 3 (3)

“I’d encourage anyone currently looking for work to take advantage of the opportunities available. Everyone else can do their bit by visiting their local pubs, restaurants, cafés, bars and hotels and supporting them by enjoying a drink or a meal.”

(With scary photo)

No mention of the hospitality industry being seasonal and poorly paid. An example of “I’m all right Jack”? – Owl

Banging the drum for hospitality in East Devon is such an important thing to do

Simon Jupp www.devonlive.com

I have always enjoyed the comforting surroundings of a traditional British boozer. The ambiance, the local chatter, the chance to catch up with friends over a pint and a decent plate of homecooked food. Our pubs are something to be proud of and must be protected.

The hospitality sector has faced almighty challenges over the last year or so. Pubs, bars, cafés, hotels and restaurants have all endured a rollercoaster of a ride as restrictions were put in place to tackle the pandemic.

Venues across East Devon have shown flexibility, ingenuity, and vigour in adapting to the temporary rules to ensure a safe and secure experience for us all.

We have a part to play too. We should be patient when it comes to table service and to understand that staff are doing the best they can to take and deliver orders in good time.

MPs Neil Parish and Simon Jupp at The Greyhound Country Inn at Fenny Bridges.

Being asked to use your smartphone to register being in a venue or reminded to use a face covering when moving around might annoy some customers, but the staff are simply doing what is being asked of them until the restrictions are removed. Sadly, as we learnt earlier this week, these rules will be in place for a few more weeks.

I have spoken to several owners and managers in the hospitality sector locally and I know finding staff is becoming another challenge that needs to be overcome.

Next time you are out in your part of Devon, look at the recruitment signs on display outside pubs and restaurants seeking staff. Local online websites are also carrying adverts from businesses looking to hire people. It’s not until you start looking that you see the demand is quickly growing.

Hospitality is the backbone of East Devon. Its prominence and contribution to the local economy is vital. I sometimes feel that we do not properly acknowledge the importance of this sector in terms of how staff are viewed or valued. By this, I don’t necessarily mean by their employers, but by us as customers.

In countries such as France or Spain, working as serving staff or behind a bar is viewed as a lifelong vocation. Sadly, I think some people in the UK wrongly view such jobs as simply menial or a stopgap. They simply aren’t. A lifelong rewarding career is possible. We need to change the perception and recognise how hospitality staff are not only necessary to have a vibrant and successful local economy, but also act as ambassadors for East Devon whenever they interactive with a customer or a tourist.

My door is always open to any business in the constituency that requires support or assistance. I am keen to hear of any ideas of how we can beat the challenge of finding and retaining staff in the hospitality sector.

As we head towards summer and hopefully some more fine weather, I plan to visit as many pubs as possible in the patch. I will also be launching a dedicated website featuring all the pubs in East Devon which I hope will allow you to discover a gem or two that you currently may not be aware of.

I am committed to doing what I can to support any hospitality venue or business of any nature in my constituency as I’m acutely aware many financial support schemes taper off soon. If you would like to speak with me or organise a visit, please make contact via my website www.simonjupp.org.uk

Banging the drum for hospitality in East Devon is such an important thing to do. I’d encourage anyone currently looking for work to take advantage of the opportunities available. Everyone else can do their bit by visiting their local pubs, restaurants, cafés, bars and hotels and supporting them by enjoying a drink or a meal.

We have some of the best hospitality businesses in the country, so let’s come together and give them a helping hand when they need it most.

Bruising and deliciously embarrassing, but does this amount to a “smoking gun”?

The big question is why Boris (and Michael Gove before that) hired him in the first place – Owl

Jessica Elgot www.theguardian.com

Dominic Cummings has delivered yet more incendiary claims – backed up with some new evidence – in an attempt to tackle what he says is an “Orwellian” rewriting of history by the government about mistakes made during the Covid pandemic.

In a more than 7,000-word essay published on the online platform Substack, he made a series of allegations under the broad headline: “The PM on Hancock: ‘totally fucking hopeless’”.

Just as he did during his testimony to MPs three weeks ago, Cummings repeatedly accused the health secretary of talking nonsense, being slippery and blaming others for his own mistakes – claims the health secretary has strenuously denied.

Cummings’s key claims included:

Lockdown modelling: late and chaotic

Cummings published three key Cobra documents from meetings in early March which he said showed the government intended to pursue a herd immunity strategy by September.

The first document said the government “seeks to avoid” a high second peak of the virus in the autumn when the NHS would be overstretched and that that would be exacerbated by “very stringent social and behavioural interventions like China” because the virus would surge after lockdown ended.

The second document showed the interventions the government were considering and its effect on intensive care unit capacity. It reveals the most stringent intervention that was modelled was case isolation and social distancing for over-70s. It did not show any modelling for a full “stay at home” lockdown.

A final document suggested there would be 250,000 dead after the “optimal single peak strategy”, with herd immunity by September.

Cummings also published “whiteboard” plans shown to the PM urging a shift to a lockdown strategy on 14 March, as well as mass testing and increasing NHS capacity. Cummings insisted this was the first time a lockdown scenario had been modelled.

He said both Hancock and the Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, had wanted to delay the introduction of quarantining those with symptoms because a helpline was not ready and were overruled. “Both of them have misled the public about this,” he said.

Hancock told MPs that a plan for suppression had been published on 3 March – the contain-delay-mitigate strategy, a document Cummings called “embarrassingly awful”.

Testing: ‘Hancock “hopeless”, but PM does nothing’

In his blogpost, Cummings said Hancock’s select committee hearing had “muddied the waters” about the goal – suggesting he had opposed it – and disclosed text messages to prove he had pushed to ramp up testing. “I was pushing the system on testing weeks before Hancock’s announcement and to build a system for 1m per day,” he said.

What he had opposed, he said, was the “chaos” where Hancock “blurted out his 100k target to the media” and said the health secretary had taken the opportunity while both Cummings and Johnson were ill with Covid.

In a text message to a WhatsApp group including the prime minister, Hancock, Chris Whitty, Patrick Vallance and the then director of communications, Lee Cain, Cummings raised the goal of 100,000 tests a day.

Cummings said Hancock had misled the meeting when the goal was agreed, including saying that the current hold-up was with the Treasury. On 26 March, Cummings texted the PM saying that Hancock was falling behind on his testing promises and it would mean tens of thousands of NHS staff could be absent.

The prime minister texted back saying: “Totally fucking hopeless.”

However, Cummings said Johnson never confronted Hancock – “he would never say to him, despite dozens of requests from two cabinet secretaries, me and other ministers and officials”.

Cummings said the 100,000 goal had distracted from other crucial issues including care homes during April – “distorting priorities across the system so that he [Hancock] could hold a successful press conference”.

Care homes: Hancock’s ‘new version of reality’

One of the biggest scandals of the first Covid wave was that hospital patients were being discharged into adult social care homes without being tested for Covid – seeding the virus into vulnerable and elderly people.

Cummings accused Hancock of “creating a new version of reality” by claiming the government “threw a protective ring” around care homes. He said the health secretary “neglected” care homes throughout April 2020 because he was “trying to focus effort on his press conference” at the end of the month, where he wanted to triumphantly declare his testing target had been met.

Having returned to work on 13 April following his Covid illness and trips to Durham and Barnard Castle, Cummings said that despite Hancock’s assurance that people would be tested before being moved from hospitals to care homes, that was not happening and “there was still no plan to do so”.

Two days later, Cummings said, No 10 was told that a lot of tests were not being used because Hancock’s department had “left in place rules that were limiting those eligible for tests, despite care homes screaming”.

Despite this, “the care homes nightmare continued”, said the former No 10 aide.

Then on 3 May, Cummings recalled he wrote to Johnson: “I think we are negligently killing the most vulnerable who we are supposed to be shielding and I am extremely worried about it.” A few days later, Cummings said, he and No 10 dug into Hancock’s denial of any problem – and ended up concluding the health secretary’s “failures and dishonesty made him unfit for his job” given “there was still no serious testing in care homes and this was killing people”.

PPE: the system collapsed

Also vital to stopping the virus spreading in hospitals and care homes, and ensuring staff did not go off sick, was personal protective equipment (PPE).

“The lack of PPE killed NHS and care home staff in March-May,” was Cummings’s blunt assessment. He said Hancock had given a “fictitious” account of the procurement of items such as aprons, gloves and face shields.

He added this was another subject on which Hancock and No 10 were “creating a new version of reality”, saying that the government’s procurement operation had “collapsed” and stuck to old rules when it should have been operating on a “wartime mentality”.

The health secretary insisted PPE was “all under control” on 26 March – leading to wasted weeks where problems were not solved, Cummings said, adding Hancock sought to blame the chancellor, Cabinet Office and chief executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens.

“The cabinet secretary [Mark Sedwill] told the PM’s office that Hancock’s claims were false,” Cummings said. “The lack of PPE killed NHS and care home staff in March-May.”

Hancock “had to be removed from crucial decisions”, said Cummings, meaning procuring PPE was handed to Lord Deighton – a Tory peer who was judged to have led well the 2012 London Olympics organising committee.

Officials were flatly contradicting Hancock’s insistence that PPE was not running short, Cummings said, with civil servants telling him most deliveries of the items would only arrive after the first wave in April.

By 20 April, Cummings said, Hancock’s department had only just set up a 24/7 payments system for procurement with Asia. “Imagine if NHS staff wearing bin bags had realised that DHSC had not even set up a round-the-clock system at this point, imagine the rage in No 10 when we discovered this,” the ex-aide said.

“At this time NHS staff were screaming for PPE. The dashboard daily meetings showed we were running out of critical items such as gowns. Reports flooded in of hospitals having run out or on the brink of running out and begging for supplies. Hancock caused further chaos by repeated briefing to the media about how new loads were flying in, bluffing his way through meeting after meeting – his whole routine.”

Cummings also teased the release of further information, saying Hancock had given “a fictitious account of what happened on masks” but that he would “leave that to another day”.

Boris Johnson: wants to ‘make money and have fun’

Hancock may have been the main target of Dominic Cummings’s ire, but the spurned former adviser also levels a series of charges at the prime minister. He claimed Johnson’s administration could not be trusted, and would “unravel”, urging Johnson’s opponents to start preparing now for “what comes next”.

Cummings was particularly preoccupied with what he claimed were No 10’s efforts to rewrite the history of the early days of the pandemic, by claiming “herd immunity” was never the government’s plan A.

He lays the blame for what he saw as these lies firmly on Johnson’s shoulders, accusing him of “trying to influence officials/advisers to support the rewriting of history” and “encouraging ministers to give false accounts to parliament”.

Cummings also claimed that what he saw as Johnson’s protection of Hancock sent a damaging signal: that “a secretary of state will be rewarded despite repeated incompetence and dishonesty and the government machine will seek to rewrite history in Orwellian fashion because the PM thinks it in his personal interests to do so”.

Of course, many at Westminster felt Johnson’s protection of Cummings over his lockdown-busting trip to Durham a year ago sent a pretty strong signal, too.

Cummings also said the prime minister had a “clear plan”, not to “go on and on” but to step down two years after the next general election, to “make money and have fun”.

Finally, Cummings gave an excruciating account of the way Johnson chairs meetings – claiming he told rambling stories and jokes and avoided any difficult issues, urging colleagues to “take it offline”, before shouting “forward to victory”, doing a thumbs-up and fleeing the room before anybody could disagree.

Despite Cummings’s lengthy and occasionally rambling analysis, the health committee chair, Jeremy Hunt, pointed out in a Twitter thread that he has yet to produce any evidence that definitively shows Hancock lied to the prime minister.

Following on from yesterday’s post on main parties in three-way fight for two East Devon by-elections.

A Progressive Alliance between Labour, Liberal Democrats and Greens would see 58 seats wiped from the Conservative’s majority, new polling figures have revealed.

By Unibeez www.thelondoneconomic.com 

Electoral Calculus research run on behalf of the Constitution Society found Boris Johnson’s party would return just 307 MPs if the three parties joined forces.

That’s down significantly from the number of MPs they currently have following a landslide election victory in December 2019.

— Election Maps UK (@ElectionMapsUK) June 15, 2021

Oxfordshire

In the local elections in May, Liberal Democrat, Labour and Green councillors in Oxfordshire agreed to “put their differences aside” in the interest of local residents to form a coalition.

With no party winning the 32-seat majority required leaders from the parties have formed the Oxfordshire Fair Deal Alliance that is anchored in “the principles shared across our manifestos, with climate change and the environment at their heart.”

It echoes a similar allegiance struck in Stroud, which was renewed after the May 6th election.

Cllr Doina Cornell said the alliance has “achieved so much for the district over these last nine years, protecting and investing in our communities instead of cutting back.”

Labour drubbings

On the national front, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has embarked on some serious soul searching following drubbings for the party across the regions.

Labour lost control of eight councils and shed some 326 councillors all told, with the biggest defeats coming in Hartlepool, where a Conservative MP was elected for the first time in 62 years, and in County Durham, which saw Labour lose overall control of the council for the first time since 1925.

It follows on from the 2019 general election which saw Labour suffer one of its worst results in living memory.

The election saw much of the so-called Red Wall turn blue, with seats such as Workington, Tony Blair’s former constituency of Sedgefield and Bolsover, which had been Dennis Skinner’s seat since 1970, fall to the Conservatives.

The scale of the defeat, which was underpinned by ongoing Brexit issues, has led many people to suggest that the only way forward for Labour is through an alliance with other parties.

Boris Johnson described Matt Hancock as “totally fucking hopeless” during the early stages of the pandemic, concerned by the health secretary’s promises on testing, text messages published by Dominic Cummings have revealed.

Jessica Elgot www.theguardian.com 

Writing on Substack, the prime minister’s former chief aide published a slew of texts and documents from emergency Cobra meetings that he said would combat what he called “lies” from Downing Street and the health secretary about the initial handling of the pandemic.

Cummings had been asked to hand over documents to a select committee inquiry into the pandemic but did not meet the committee’s deadline before Hancock gave evidence last week.

In his post, Cummings said:

• Johnson considered removing all responsibility for PPE from Hancock and putting Michael Gove in charge.
• No strategy for full lockdown was modelled until 14 March, and he published documents predicting 250,000 deaths in the first wave.
• Johnson told “rambling stories and jokes” during emergency meetings and refused to ask awkward questions from officials.
• Johnson intends to quit after the next election in order to make more money.

Cummings said Hancock had come up with a “new version of reality” that he had been responsible for pushing the increase in testing capacity, and that the health secretary had been pursuing the abandoned single-peak, herd immunity strategy until 16 March.

“Testing, like vaccines, was removed from his control in May because of his incompetence and dishonesty,” Cummings wrote on Substack.

He said Hancock told No 10 that the supply of PPE was “all under control” in the week of 23 March, which Cummings said was a false assurance and meant weeks were wasted that could have been used to source equipment.

“If No 10 is prepared to lie so deeply and widely about such vital issues of life and death last year, it cannot be trusted now either on Covid or any other crucial issue of war and peace,” he wrote.

“Hancock continues to have direct responsibility for things like dealing with variants and care homes. Having such a secretary of state in a key role is guaranteed disaster. It is urgent for public safety that he is removed.”

He said Johnson had been “encouraging ministers to give false accounts to parliament” and that the public inquiry would not sufficiently hold the prime minister to account. He said Johnson intended to quit two years after the next election in order to “make money” and move on from politics.

“So we either live with chronic dysfunction for another five years or some force intervenes,” he wrote.

WhatsApp messages published by Dominic Cummings. Photograph: https://dominiccummings.substack.com/

Cummings said he had been torn about publishing private WhatsApp messages but Hancock had challenged him at the select committee to provide evidence and suggested his account was false.

In text messages published on the blog, Cummings said Hancock had told the morning meeting on 24 March there would be 10,000 tests a day by 30 March and 100,000 a day within a month.

On 26 March, the day Johnson tested positive for Covid, Cummings texted the prime minister saying Hancock’s testing plans were in chaos and that the health secretary would not meet his 10,000 tests pledge.

According to the picture on Cummings’ blog, Johnson wrote: “Totally fucking hopeless.”

The prime minister repeated his view of Hancock’s performance in a number of other messages, according to Cummings.

Cummings said that when he returned to work on 13 April 2020 following his own Covid illness and trips to Durham and Barnard Castle, it became clear that Hancock’s promise that people would be tested before being moved from hospitals to care homes had not been implemented, and that “there was still no plan to do so”.

A similar “nightmare” was also under way with the procurement of ventilators, according to Cummings. He said a health department official told him they had been turning down machines because prices were rising. Attaching a WhatsApp purportedly from Johnson, he said the prime minister pointed the finger of blame at Hancock, saying “he has been useless”.

Whatsapp messages purportedly between Johnson and Cummings. Photograph: https://dominiccummings.substack.com/

In another series of WhatsApp messages released by Cummings, Johnson apparently told his aide on 27 April that PPE procurement was a disaster, adding: “I can’t think of anything except taking Hancock off and putting Gove on.”

Cummings said he told Johnson on 3 May: “I think we are negligently killing the most vulnerable who we are supposed to be shielding and I am extremely worried about it,” because testing was still not being properly distributed to care homes. He said the prime minister agreed Hancock’s “failures and dishonesty made him unfit for his job” but refused to take any action.

Even by the start of May, Cummings said, the government had still not adopted a “wartime mentality” and when the prime minister chaired important meetings, Johnson would ramble and tell jokes.

“As soon as things get ‘a bit embarrassing’ [he] does the whole ‘let’s take it offline’ shtick before shouting ‘forward to victory’, doing a thumbs up and pegging it out of the room before anybody can disagree.”

As well as text messages from Johnson, Cummings also published a Cobra document from early March that argued for herd immunity by September to avoid a second peak in the winter and more pressure on the NHS.

The document did not include the possibility of a full “stay at home” lockdown strategy and suggested there would be 250,000 people dead after the “optimal single peak strategy”, with herd immunity by September.

Cummings said he told Johnson on 14 March 2020 that many more than 250,000 would die. “I said the public would march up Downing Street and lynch him,” Cummings wrote.

He published whiteboard plans shown to the PM by himself and Ben Warner, a data scientist, urging a shift to a lockdown strategy on 14 March as well as mass testing and increasing NHS capacity. Cummings said that was the first time a lockdown scenario was modelled.

Hancock told MPs that a plan for suppression was published on 3 March – the contain-delay-mitigate strategy. Cummings said the document was based on the logic that the UK would not implement any suppression measures.

“Obviously this embarrassingly awful document, which will be remembered as a case study in failure for decades to come, in no sense set out what we actually did, as everybody can see,” he said. “That ‘plan’ was sending us to catastrophe so we ditched it.”