DOMINIC Cummings has had a pop at Nicola Sturgeon for diverging from Boris Johnson’s coronavirus plans.

The former aide to the Prime Minister, who was speaking to the joint Science and Technology Committee and Health and Social Care Committee this morning, said that Cobra meetings became “potemkin” – having a false or deceptive appearance – because officials were concerned about what the First Minister would go on to say on TV afterwards.

It comes as Cummings apologised to the public for the UK Government’s handling of the crisis during the evidence session to MPs.

READ MORE: Top civil servant said UK 'absolutely f****d' week before lockdown, claims Cummings

Turning to the topic of Cobra meetings, Cummings said: “The last Cobra meeting I can even remember downstairs in the Cobra room was essentially a potemkin meeting because it was with the DA's [devolved administrations] and what happened was as soon as we had these meetings Nicola Sturgeon would just go straight out and announce what she wanted straight afterwards.

“So again you have these completely potemkin meetings without anyone actually digging into the reality and the detail because everybody thought as soon as the meetings finished everyone’s just going to pop up on TV and start babbling. So that whole structure inside the Cabinet Office needs to be completely changed."

He added: “The good news is the Cabinet Secretary knows that, the Cabinet Secretary himself saw, as did a lot of other people last year, how the whole thing fell apart.”

Cummings also said during the evidence session that a top civil servant told him the UK was “absolutely f****d” and thousands of people may die because there was no pandemic plan in place – a week before the first lockdown came in.

READ MORE: Boris Johnson 'wanted to be injected with Covid-19 on live TV'

A spokesperson for the First Minister said: “If even half of the shambolic picture Dominic Cummings has painted of The Tories’ chaotic response to the pandemic is true then it proves the First Minister was absolutely right to take the initiative to help keep people safe.”