Boris Johnson’s former top aide referred to the ex-prime minister’s Covid strategy as “Jaws mode wank”.
In WhatsApp conversation published by the official inquiry into the pandemic, Dominic Cummings aired his frustration about Johnson’s nonchalant approach to lockdowns.
On March 19, 2020, at the very start of the pandemic, Cummings messaged No. 10′s head of communications Lee Cain to say Johnson was “back to Jaws mode wank”.
Asked by the Inquiry what this bizarre comment meant, Cain explained it was a reference to the film Jaws, where a killer shark unleashes chaos and attacks people on beaches.
“The PM at a time would refer to the mayor in Jaws who wants to keep the beaches open”, despite the multiple shark attacks, Cain said.
“I think he had a routine from previously in his career where he would use that as a joke from one of his sort of ‘after dinner’ speeches.
“He sort of said, you know there’s more harm coming. The mayor was right all along, to keep the beaches open, because it would have caused long term harm to the community. So it’s a sort of reference to that.”
Revelations from earlier in the inquiry also showed senior civil servants compare Johnson’s approach to covid lockdowns with that of Donald Trump, notorious for his denial of the virus.
The screenshot shows further criticism of the prime minister from two of his most senior advisors.
Cummings, texting from a meeting with Johnson and Rishi Sunak, says: “I’ve had to sit here for 2 f***ing hours just to stop him from saying stupid s**t.”
’I’m exhausted by him”, added Lee Cain.
Asking Cain about the meaning behind these messages, the Inquiry pressed: “Was this just chatter was this just banter if you like?
“Were you just agreeing with him [Cummings]? Because he was your friend? Or did you actually mean that you were exhausted with the prime minister, and that you were despairing?”
Cain responded: “Anyone that’s worked with the prime minister for a period of time will become exhausted with him.
“Sometimes he can be quite a challenging character to work with just because he will oscillate he will take a decision from the last person in the room.
“I think that’s pretty well documented in terms of his style of operating and it is rather exhausting from time to time.”