Dominic Cummings must face parliament questioning if he plays role in UK defence policy, senior MP says

Boris Johnson’s chief aide planning tour of most secret armed forces bases

Dominic Cummings is expected to be summoned to answer questions in parliament about his role in a major review of the UK's future defence and security needs, after details emerged of his tour of sensitive military sites.

It emerged today that Boris Johnson's chief aide turned down an invitation to appear before the Commons Defence Select Committee in March. The committee will decide at a meeting on Monday whether to renew the request.

The committee's chair Tobias Ellwood told The Independent that Mr Cummings' apparently senior role in the defence review made it imperative for MPs to be given the same opportunity to scrutinise his activities as they do those of ministers and senior civil servants.

The move comes among growing unease over Mr Cummings' apparent domination of Downing Street operations, following the removal of several special advisers, the consolidation of No 10 and Treasury advisers under his command and the announcement that the head of the civil service Sir Mark Sedwill is to stand down.

One senior Conservative MP said: "There is growing concern among cabinet members that his power and reach and influence is far greater than any of his predecessors and it is undermining the natural activities of cabinet-led government with him being responsible for leading so many projects."

Last month, former Johnson aide Tim Montgomerie accused Cummings of overseeing “a reign of terror” in Downing Street despite having “crazy” ideas.

The prime minister is coming under pressure to explain Mr Cummings’ role in the upcoming defence review, after it emerged he is planning a tour of the armed forces’ most classified bases.

Documents seen by an Australian newspaper showed that Mr Cummings is planning to visit sites including the Special Boat Service in Dorset, the SAS headquarters in Hereford and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, which researches chemical weapons and pathogens, at Porton Down.

Mr Cummings also wants to visit the Rapid Capabilities Office at Farnborough and the defence intelligence unit at Wyton – having already toured MI5 and MI6 twice, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Downing Street on Wednesday defended the plan, saying that senior advisers “regularly” visit government sites.

But Mr Ellwood - a former Army officer who served as a defence minister under Theresa May from 2017-19 - said: "If it is correct that he is now doing an intensive tour of some of the most sensitive aspects of our defence and security apparatus, it is only fair to ask the question for what purpose is this being conducted?

"Clearly he is a talented campaigner and electoral strategist but he is yet to be proven as an administrator. His responsibilities are for the prime minister to determine, but running campaigns is not the same as leading a comprehensive review of our defence and security.

"We asked him to appear in March and he turned us down. There is every likelihood he will be asked again. It is for the government to decide how they conduct these activities but it must happen in full transparency and the machinery of government must be scrutinised in the normal way."

Mr Johnson's official spokesman told reporters: "It's for select committees to decide which witnesses they want to call. That's standard procedure.

"I'm not aware of any requests. If any requests are made they will be considered in the normal way."

He added: "The integrated review is being conducted by John Bew, who is the prime minister's adviser on foreign affairs, and Alex Ellis, who is a civil servant in the Cabinet Office."

Mr Cummings was found in contempt of parliament in 2019 after refusing to appear before the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee to answer questions about the alleged use of “fake news” by the Vote Leave campaign, which he led during the EU referendum. He had previously given evidence to the Treasury Committee during the 2016 campaign.

Parliament’s select committees routinely call ministers and senior civil servants to give evidence in televised sessions, which can last two hours or more, though they have no powers to compel attendance. However, they are not normally given access to politically appointed special advisers for questioning.

John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, has said he fears the Ministry of Defence would be “a bystander” in what was meant to be “the biggest defence review since the Cold War”.

“Plans for Britain’s future defence and security should not be in the hands of a political adviser,” he warned.

According to the documents, Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, has forbidden officials from talking to Downing Street or Mr Cummings about the itinerary for his planned trip.

But Mr Johnson’s political spokesperson defended Mr Cummings’ tour, saying: “He is the prime minister’s senior adviser and so, as you would expect, he regularly visits government sites.

“Similar visits have taken place involving senior advisers under previous governments.”