Dominic Cummings – an observation from BATTLESPACE. One night only! Book tickets now for once in a lifetime opportunity to see the maestro policy maker in action! We waited half an hour of jaw clenching drama to see the Mighty Dom leap onto the stage and then, the sigh from the audience was painfully audible!
He was portrayed as the hard man who oversaw and planned Brexit, he would give £350m back to the NHS, he masterminded the 2019 Boris Johnson election win, he then became Mr Johnson’s top advisor and is now the scourge of civil servants and ministers alike, pouring scorn on current policy, individuals alike, along with criticism of the management of the economy, in short he knows best and will cleanse the Augean stables in a day! He demeans minsters and civil servants alike, His deliberate scruffy style and top of the range shades were all part of his image, different, but tough!
What we saw was a balding middle-aged man in scruffy trousers and shirt, take the stage at one of the world’s top venues and after the silence the boos would have been audible.
He had obviously had no media training to manage this conference which was too long and lacked any form of contrition. More importantly he had no presence which the likes of Bernard Ingham and Alistair Campbell portrayed – he was softly spoken, portraying himself more of a junior bank manager who has made a mistake on a customer account rather than the top government advisor to the charismatic Boris Johnson who has just been swept to power in a huge election victory. He stuttered his way through his version of events, his eyes darting everywhere, scratching himself on occasion, leaving himself wide open for challenges on a number of his admitted acts.
He answered all the questions with a total lack of contrition and left the stage with more questions to be answered than answered. One in particular from a policeman on radio 4 Today who said that in fact he may have committed a motoring offence by driving when he believed he was unfit. The next appearance on this stage will be his resignation.
However, what he did yesterday was to destroy the ‘Mighty Dom’ myth which has transposed government and Number 10 in particular since his Brexit lead. He fell into his own trap, bullies are in fact cowards and when confronted with their sins, they crumble at the same time as claiming they have done nothing wrong. In Greek mythology the Aegis golden shield was used in naval battles to shield the sins and omissions of the enemies of Zeus back on to them.
In the trade these people have the nomenclature ‘Right People,’ they always believe they are right and have a staunch unshakeable belief in these beliefs. The way they are dealt with is to confront their untruths and find the inconsistencies which is what happened on Monday evening, hence his collapse of personality and the rapid eye movements when questions were posed. It is also worth noting that ‘Right People’ have another facet, they explode when confronted.
There will be two effect from this, one ministers and the armed forces in particular, one of his main targets, will now be able to challenge his draconian policies on an even playing field having seen how he reacts to public speaking and secondly, more importantly, the decline of the ‘Mighty Dom,’ will put a spotlight on the probity of Boris Johnson’s choice of senior advisor and cast a spotlight on Boris’s own performance and how he will succeed without his bully boy? Will the king have any clothes after yesterday, particularly if Dominic Cummings stays in post?
Kier Starmer can start measuring up for the redecoration of Number 10 after he sweeps to power at the next election , the starting gun for which was fired yesterday, The Tories dire performance over COVID-19 and the Prime Minister’s own performance, aided by advice from Dominic Cummings, will see them swept from office on a tide of needless dead bodies.
(Updated from June 1st 2020)