DOMINIC Cummings has made a string of fresh claims about the Prime Minister’s mishandling of the pandemic in an interview with Laura Kuenssberg.
The discussion will be aired in full at 7pm tonight (Tuesday), with Boris Johnson’s former top adviser is expected to continue his evisceration of his former employer.
But the programme is also expected to raise questions about the nature of journalism in the UK.
Cummings’ relationship with Kuenssberg has caused controversy over the course of the pandemic, with Westminster journalists often criticsed for their close ties to the Downing Street elite.
Here we look back at some of the incidents which have raised eyebrows over the past 18 months.
READ MORE: BBC to air Laura Kuenssberg's one-hour interview with Dominic Cummings
In May 2020, Kuenssberg faced criticism after appearing to quickly jump to Cummings’ defence over the Barnard Castle scandal.
It was revealed by the Guardian and the Mirror that the PM’s former top aide had travelled 250 miles from London to Durham to visit his parents while sick with coronavirus.
But Kuenssberg publicly responded to the Mirror’s political editor Pippa Crerar, who had posted the story to her own Twitter profile, appearing to correct facts in the article in accordance with what she had heard from her own unnamed “source”.
The BBC political editor replied: “Source says his trip was within guidelines as Cummings went to stay with his parents so they could help with childcare while he and his wife were ill – they insist no breach of lockdown.”
Source says his trip was within guidelines as Cummings went to stay with his parents so they could help with childcare while he and his wife were ill - they insist no breach of lockdown
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) May 22, 2020
The BBC received complaints about the incident, but insisted their editor was "simply reporting information from a source".
The furore led to one cheeky critic labelling Kuenssberg "Chief Press Officer of Her Majesty’s Government" on the Wikipedia page for the Johnson’s government.
The reporter again came under fire in October, along with several other lobby journalists.
They all shared all shared an identical response, thought to be from Cummings, to criticism from Keir Starmer.
Cummings' group texts working then. pic.twitter.com/NvIww6ZUUt
— Ross McCafferty (@RossMcCaff) October 13, 2020
READ MORE: Boris Johnson ‘no longer bought NHS overwhelmed stuff’, leaked WhatsApps suggest
The posts raised questions about the nature of journalism at Westminster and the lack of critical analysis.
Kuenssberg’s close ties to Cummings were confirmed by the man himself during his explosive evidence session to MPs on the joint Health and Science Committee in May.
He claimed he “drove the media mad” the previous year because he “essentially stopped talking to almost all journalists almost all the time” during the pandemic – except for Kuenssberg.
He told MPs the BBC political editor was his main point of contact, having “unauthorised” discussions with her to keep her up to date on what was going on in government.
Cummings’s role did not involve a lot of talking to the media, he said. “The main person really though that I spoke to in the whole of 2020 was Laura Kuenssberg at the BBC, because the BBC has a special position in the country, obviously during a crisis.
“Because I was in the room for certain crucial things, I could give guidance to her on certain very big stories.”
Dominic Cummings: The Interview will air on BBC Two at 7pm.
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