Cummings' testimony will challenge PM's decisions

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson will face intense scrutiny over his handling of the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak when his former chief adviser Dominic Cummings gives evidence to a parliamentary select committee on Wednesday.

Cummings, who was Johnson's right-hand man for more than a year before he left Downing Street in November after falling out with him, has described the initial plan for the crisis as "disastrously misconceived "and is expected to make the allegation that thousands of deaths could have been avoided, according to the Financial Times.

Cummings' reputation was battered when he defied rules and traveled across the country during the first lockdown last year. His relationship with the PM rapidly deteriorated after Cummings reportedly briefed against him.

In a flurry of social media posts in the last week, Cummings has given some indication of what he intends to reveal in the hearing. The Times newspaper's Red Box column summarized the tweets as saying that "the government's initial goal at the outset of the pandemic was to achieve herd immunity by last September".

The Times reported that Cummings said ministers were forced into a "bodged" plan B because they did not understand their original proposals would mean "100s of 1,000s choking to death".

In one post, Cummings wrote: "Many thousands will have serious health problems for years because of our failure to act faster/harder in Feb/March & Sep". In another post he described the government's policy on keeping borders open as a "joke".

The Times noted he also targeted Jenny Harries, who until March was England's deputy chief medical officer, for claiming masks were a bad idea.

The FT said Cummings is prepared to share confidential documents using parliamentary privilege.

The Guardian said Cummings "seems intent on doing maximum damage to his former boss", and quoted a senior Conservative member of Parliament as saying: "He doesn't like the way he left: he thinks he should still be there. I think he wants to get Boris out."

A friend of Cummings told the FT the former adviser would not hold back from criticism of the PM, saying: "he's got absolutely nothing to lose. He's not coming back into government, Boris will never forgive him so it's his moment in the spotlight to say and do what he wants. That is dangerous for the prime minister."

The delay to lockdown the nation in March 2020 and October will also be examined, the paper said.

The prime minister will face his weekly questions from the opposition leader Keir Starmer immediately after the hearing, in the House of Commons.

One person involved in the inquiry told the FT the hearing would focus solely on the pandemic. A senior Conservative MP told the newspaper: "There is no dispute that lessons need to be learned from handling at the start. I think we feel they should be explored methodically and on evidence not as a revenge exercise by a disgruntled former aide."