DOMINIC Cummings could be quizzed by MPs to explain Boris Johnson’s controversial “power grab” on the Treasury in last week’s reshuffle.
Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, has written to a powerful Commons committee, which the Prime Minister appears before four times a year, to demand the top Downing Street aide is questioned.
Former Chancellor Sajid Javid dramatically quit on Thursday after he was told his team of advisors would be sacked and he would have to accept sharing aides with the Prime Minister.
The move has been widely seen as a ploy by Johnson – and his most senior aide Cummings – to strengthen government power in Number 10 and weaken any potential dissent to his policies coming from the Chancellor.
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In a letter to the Clerk of the Liaison Committee, Blackford said Thursday’s reshuffle saw a fundamental re-ordering of how the UK government operates and functions – without any prior transparency or scrutiny.
“The amalgamation of 10 Downing Street and the Treasury has come as a surprise to everyone – including to the former Chancellor,” said Blackford.
“It is substantially in the public interest to summon those involved in designing these changes – we should know their purpose and intent. Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s Chief Special Adviser, has been widely reported as the main catalyst for these alterations and so it’s right that he is the first to be summoned and required to answer questions on this matter.”
He added: “It is crucial that key appointed officials, responsible to the Prime Minister, are compelled to give evidence on these changes – in full, in detail and in public. I hope parliament’s Liaison Committee is favourable to facilitating this as a matter of public interest and transparency.”
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Javid quit in the middle of Johnson’s reshuffle rejecting the Prime Minister’s order to fire his team of aides, saying “no self-respecting minister” could accept such a condition. He was replaced by Rishi Sunak who was formerly chief secretary to the treasury – and who just seven months ago was a junior housing minister.
Javid had been due to deliver his first Budget in four weeks’ time. Javid was appointed Chancellor by Johnson when he became Prime Minister in July. His resignation follows rumours of tensions between Javid and Cummings.
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