Dominic Cummings is set to accuse Boris Johnson of being prepared to put lives at risk by refusing to impose a second lockdown, it has been reported.

The former chief advisor will appear before MPs on May 26 as part of a Parliamentary inquiry into the Government’s pandemic response. Allies of Cummings have claimed he has a number of documents that could be damaging to the Prime Minister.

It has been claimed the Johnson was strongly against imposing another lockdown in England last year, despite the advice from scientists at the time.

He is said to have faced pressure from Michael Gove and Health Secretary Matt Hancock over the need for more Covid restrictions, with critics stating that the January lockdown could have been avoided had the November measures been more stringent.

The PM allegedly raged in response: ‘No more f**king lockdowns – let the bodies pile high in their thousands’. Downing Street has strongly denied that Johnson made the comment.

Mr Cummings is reported to have a ‘treasure trove’ of internal memos and emails from the height of the pandemic that could paint the Government in a bad light.

The former aide may also accuse Johnson of blocking plans to close the nation’s borders early on in the pandemic, The Telegraph reports.

Mr Cummings is said to have supported plans made by Home Secretary Priti Patel to ban flights from Covid hotspots early on during the pandemic, but will claim he was overruled by the PM.

An options paper setting out plans to ban flights or impose quarantine on returning travellers was prepared in March last year, but later rejected by Johnson amid claims only 0.5% of Covid cases were linked to international movement.

Mr Cummings is expected to query the science behind the statistic, as the UK did not have a successful mass testing system in place at the time.

A source close to Mr Cummings said: ‘When Dom appears before the MPs, he will tell the truth. He knows the timeline of everything. He will have detailed notes.

‘Whether he has emails I don’t know. But if it was me I would have copies at home to refresh my memory. If the MPs want them, then they can ask a parliamentary question or FOI it.’

Mr Cummings wrote in a blog last week that he will ‘cooperate fully’ with the Parliamentary inquiry. He continued: ‘I am happy for No 10 to publish every email I received and sent July 2019-November 2020 (with no exceptions other than, obviously, some national security / intelligence issues). 

‘It is sad to see the PM and his office fall so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves.’

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