Top civil servant urged to block Boris Johnson’s appointment of Brexit campaign chief as senior aide

Exclusive: Arrival of former Vote Leave boss should ‘send shivers down the spines’ of the British public

The head of the civil service has been urged to block the appointment of Brexit mastermind Dominic Cummings to a senior Downing Street role.

Boris Johnson’s decision to invite Mr Cummings to become a key No 10 adviser has sent shockwaves through Westminster, coming only months after he was found in contempt of parliament for refusing to give evidence to the Commons fake news inquiry.

The move also sparked fears among Tory moderates about the new prime minister’s Brexit approach, as Mr Cummings was the architect of Vote Leave’s Take Back Control slogan and the pledge to claw back £350m a week from the EU for the NHS.

The Liberal Democrats have written to Sir Mark Sedwill, the UK’s most senior mandarin, urging him to intervene as they warned the news should “send shivers down the spines” of the British public.

Layla Moran MP argued the Brexiteer’s conduct fell short of necessary Whitehall standards due to his admonishment for contempt and his involvement in Vote Leave’s “misleading” campaign about NHS funds.

She also pointed to the decision by Mr Cummings to leak a confidential Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee report, when he reportedly declared “f*** the charlatans embargo” before posting the document on his personal blog.

Ms Moran told The Independent: “The appointment of Dominic Cummings should send shivers down the spines of UK citizens. This is a man who has peddled lies and flouted the truth for sheer, cynical political gain.

“The dark arts that he proffers should have no place in government, and no place in Downing Street.

“If Boris Johnson is serious about uniting our country, then appointing one of the most divisive figures in politics is hardly the best start.

“Boris Johnson needs to act like a prime minister, and not be the puppeteer of someone who has so little respect for the British people.”

The intervention comes after Mr Johnson carried out the most dramatic cabinet reshuffle in modern history, installing Brexiteers in top posts and culling allies of Theresa May from the government.

He has also appointed old allies from Vote Leave and City Hall to key roles behind the scenes.

The new prime minister has already faced a row after it emerged his new digital adviser, Chloe Westley, described an ally of the far-right activist Tommy Robinson as a “hero”.

Mr Cummings, another Vote Leave veteran, has become one of the most senior political aides in Downing Street, alongside Mr Johnson’s former City Hall adviser Sir Edward Lister, who has been drafted in as a temporary chief of staff.

Mr Cummings is respected among Brexiteers as being instrumental to the success of the 2016 referendum campaign, but his vocal criticism of MPs and civil servants has ruffled feathers.

Since the referendum, Mr Cummings has described Brexit as a “train wreck”, and said triggering Article 50 too early was like “putting a gun in your mouth and pulling the trigger”. He also branded David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, “thick as mince and lazy as a toad”, and described the Tory European Research Group as “useful idiots for Remain”.

The validity of his appointment was questioned in the Commons by Labour’s Valerie Vaz, who asked whether he would be allowed in parliament following the contempt ruling.

But he was defended by Jacob Rees-Mogg, the newly appointed leader of the Commons, who said: “Parliament did what it did. It passed its sentence; it did not use its ancient powers to imprison or fine the gentleman concerned, and it did not send him to the Clock Tower.

“Therefore, in effect, his conviction is spent, and I believe in the rehabilitation of offenders.”

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “Dominic Cummings is a senior adviser to the prime minister. The prime minister’s entire team will work with the greatest respect for the role of parliament.”