“Disgusting and misogynistic” WhatsApp messages between Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings have been disclosed to the Covid inquiry, according to the former Conservative chancellor George Osborne.

Cummings, Johnson’s chief adviser when Covid struck, is due to appear before the inquiry for the first time next Tuesday.

Speaking on his Political Currency podcast with Ed Balls, Osborne said he had been told that the latest messages shared with the inquiry contained foul and sexist language.

He said: “From what I understand, there are some pretty staggering things that have been said on those WhatsApp messages … not just by Boris Johnson, but key advisers like Dominic Cummings. Really pretty disgusting language and misogynistic language.”

Osborne suggested that worse language could emerge next week. He said: “I think we’re going to get some pretty astonishing and frankly shocking WhatsApp messages and the like being published from that Johnson period.”

He said the messages would show “just what a complete nightmare it was for many people working in 10 Downing Street and who worked at the top of government at the time, and potentially some things that are going to cause some real problems for individuals who were in charge at the time.”

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    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    “Disgusting and misogynistic” WhatsApp messages between Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings have been disclosed to the Covid inquiry, according to the former Conservative chancellor George Osborne.

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    Speaking on his Political Currency podcast with Ed Balls, Osborne said he had been told that the latest messages shared with the inquiry contained foul and sexist language.

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    Earlier this month, the inquiry heard that Angela McLean, now the government’s chief scientific adviser, referred to another leading scientist, Carl Heneghan, as a “fuckwit”.

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    The Guardian revealed that Boris Johnson had told the inquiry he had been unable to access messages between 31 January and 7 June 2020, despite the phone being in action until the following spring.

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    Other messages in a WhatsApp group containing Case, Cain and Cummings suggest the exasperation felt within Johnson’s inner circle at the government’s handling of the lockdowns.

    According to the Times, Case said Johnson was keen to roll back social distancing regulations and announce: “We’re over Covid.” In one message, the then head of the civil service described this behaviour as “Trump Bolsonaro levels of mad and dangerous”.

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