Peston warns Boris Johnson on path to ‘mutually assured destruction’ as leak row erupts
Tony Blair reacts to James Dyson and Boris Johnson’s texts
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Mr Johnson’s former senior aide, Dominic Cummings, has been accused of leaking text messages sent by the Prime Minister. Mr Cummings is said to be “bitter” due to the Government’s “great progress” since he departed his position last year.
Mr Cummngs is suspected of leaking messages between the Prime Minister and the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, it is said.
Their report suggests a correspondence between Mr Johnson and businessman Sir James Dyson may also have been leaked by the former chief adviser.
But now ITV’s political editor has issued Mr Johnson a dire warning amid the “war” between the Prime Minister and his former adviser.
Mr Peston tweeted: “If Boris Johnson is here declaring war on Cummings, 1) it is a wonderful soap-opera distraction from the substantive issues raised by the leaks (too much cosiness between PM and plutocrats) and b) we are witnessing the political version of mutually assured nuclear destruction.”
This comes as a Downing Street source claimed the leaked text messages “looks like it’s coming from Dom”.
They told the Telegraph: “If you join the dots it looks like it’s coming from Dom.
“More than anything the PM is disappointed and saddened by what Dom has been up to.
“Dom may feel bitter about what’s happened since he left.
“Rather than falling apart, the government has been making great progress.”
It is believed Mr Johnson will appear in a broadcast today to address the claims it was his former aide who leaked the details.
An insider told The Sun Mr Johnson is “deeply disappointed and saddened” that private texts were made public.
They are reported to have said: “The Prime Minister thinks Dominic Cummings is responsible for a series of damaging leaks about his personal communications.”
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Text messages between Mr Johnson and Sir Dyson, a Tory donor, were seen by the BBC this week.
Amid concerns the UK wouldn’t have enough to cope with the worst of the pandemic, Mr Johnson promised to “fix” tax changes the entrepreneur wanted to secure ventilator supplies.
After failing to get a response from the Treasury, Sir James messaged the Prime Minister directly.
Mr Johnson has defended the messages and said he made “no apology for moving heaven and earth” to secure NHS equipment.
Last month, BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg warned Mr Cummings is “more than happy” to reveal secrets on the UK’s handling of the pandemic.
Ms Kuenssberg said: “He already took some pretty significant potshots at the Department of Health saying it was a smoking ruin after it tried to grapple with PPE.
“And he made it very public that he’s only too happy to come forward with this evidence about the rest of the handling of the pandemic later next month.
“I think that both he and other people involved would be really quite willing to give their side of the story.”
Mr Cummings angered the public when he decided to travel to Durham during the tight lockdown measures after urging others to stay at home.
The Conservative Party lost roughly nine points in the polls during that time, according to YouGov.
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