Cummings finally came unstuck two hours into his committee hearing, as Greg Clark pressed him to release all texts between him and journalists. Cummings told the committee that the journalist he spent the most time talking to in 2020 was the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, with Guido revealing meetings between the two last October. Dom told the committee that while he was working 100 hour weeks in 2020, only around 1% of that was spent briefing hacks. Clark pointed out a lot of information could be briefed in an hour…
Cummings claimed he had “close to zero” meetings with the press, however his register of interests shows this to be far from the case:
When asked whether he would release all texts between him and journalists – as he has been more than happy to do with messages between him and people in government – Cummings visibly squirmed, avoiding any such commitment. Peston and Walters must have been terrified…
