‘A hard rain is coming’: No10 chief Dominic Cummings ‘vows fundamental change to civil service’ after coronavirus exposed flaws in the government machine
Dominic Cummings has vowed fundamental change to the civil service after coronavirus exposed flaws in the government machine.
The PM’s most senior aide is said to have told colleagues the Cabinet Office must be stripped of powers, swiping: ‘A hard rain is coming.’
Mr Cummings has been a longstanding critic of the way the civil service works, calling for more modern organisation and data-driven policies.
In blogs before he was drafted in by Mr Johnson, he urged the introduction of ‘red teams’ explicitly tasked with finding reasons why the government should not be following policies.
He has been an advocate of ‘Super-Forecasters’, individuals who have no specific expertise but are able to predict events because of their mental process.
Mr Cummings has been particularly scathing about the way the Ministry of Defence runs its procurement.
Dominic Cummings (pictured in Downing Street today) is said to have told colleagues the Cabinet Office must be stripped of powers, swiping: ‘A hard rain is coming.’
There have been complaints from some Tory MPs that No10 is too inward looking and has been blundering over coronavirus because there is an ‘iron curtain’ around the PM.
But according to the grass roots ConservativeHome website, in a Zoom call with other special advisers recently Mr Cummings flatly dismissed the idea that he wanted to take all power into No10 as a ‘media invention’.
He reportedly told Spads that ‘anybody who has read what I’ve said about management over the years will know it’s ludicrous to suggest the solution to Whitehall’s problems is a bigger centre and more centralisation’.
‘it’s already far too big, incoherent and adds to the problems with departments.’ he added.
Mr Cummings apparently called for a ‘smaller and more elite’ central operation, and made clear that big changes were coming for No10 and the Cabinet Office.
He insisted the coronavirus response had underlined problems in the structures and many officials now accepted the need for radical change, before concluding with the message: ‘A hard rain is coming.’
In blogs before he was drafted in by Boris Johnson (pictured today), Mr Cummings urged the introduction of ‘red teams’ explicitly tasked with finding reasons why the government should not be following policies