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Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings’s war of words

Did the Prime Minister really say he’d rather “let the bodies pile high” than go into a third lockdown?

On the latest episode of the New Statesman Podcast, Stephen Bush, Anoosh Chakelian and Ailbhe Rea address the public war of words between Boris Johnson and his former top adviser Dominic Cummings.

They discuss allegations, denied by No 10, that the Prime Minister said he’d rather let “bodies pile high in their thousands” than go into a third national lockdown, and why questions over who paid for Downing Street’s refurbishment could prove more damaging than anything else.

Then, in You Ask Us, the team take your questions on why protests over the Super League weren’t as heavily policed as the Sarah Everard vigil.

If you’d like to submit a question for You Ask Us, please email podcasts@newstatesman.co.uk.

Further reading

Stephen argues that the feud between Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings could be disastrous for all Tory factions.

Harry Lambert writes that Dominic Cummings has been playing Boris Johnson for far longer than the Prime Minister realises, but the question is why Johnson kept someone so untrustworthy so close to him.

Martin Fletcher argues Boris Johnson is no “man of the people” but a self-serving con artist.

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