Tories planning to vote down Dominic Cummings' star wars plan

‘Alienated’ Tories are planning to vote down chief aide Dominic Cummings’ star wars plan to turbocharge Britain’s science and technology capabilities

• Tory Election manifesto promised £800m to set up a British Research Agency 
• It would ‘support blue-skies research and investment in UK leadership in AI 
• Mr Cummings has been told the new agency will require legislation to be passed

Tory MPs are planning a Commons rebellion against Dominic Cummings’s ‘star wars’ plans to turbocharge the UK’s science and technology capabilities

Tory MPs are planning a Commons rebellion against Dominic Cummings’s ‘star wars’ plans to turbocharge the UK’s science and technology capabilities – as a ‘proxy protest’ against his Downing Street operation. 

Mr Cummings, Boris Johnson’s most influential adviser, wants to create a British version of America’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which was founded by Washington in 1958 to match the Soviet Union’s advances in space technology and led to breakthroughs such as satellites and the internet. 

The Tory Election manifesto promised to commit £800million to set up a British Advanced Research Projects Agency to invest in ‘highrisk, high-reward research that might not otherwise be pursued, to support blue-skies research and investment in UK leadership in artificial intelligence and data’. 

But it is understood Mr Cummings has been told the new agency will require legislation to be passed this year – and backbenchers who feel alienated by the adviser’s ‘autocratic’ management style are plotting to try to vote down the Bill. 

Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Defence Select Committee, told The Mail on Sunday last night that while Mr Cummings’s plan ‘could be transformative’, the concept was fraught with challenges. 

Mr Ellwood said: ‘A Bill could be presented before there is a consensus about its governance, mission, autonomy, remit or spectrum of engagement. ‘Given the significance trailed by Government for this initiative, the Prime Minister himself should be launching a White Paper promoting a national mission and developing the critical ground support.’ 

The Bournemouth East MP added: ‘Little is known about the Government’s intentions – beyond the comments and blogs of a special adviser. This is not the way to advance and secure flagship Government policy as promoted in our Election manifesto.’ 

Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Defence Select Committee, (pictured) told The Mail on Sunday last night that while Mr Cummings’s plan ‘could be transformative’, the concept was fraught with challenges

Many members of Mr Johnson’s parliamentary party were angered by having to defend Mr Cummings during the saga over his journey to the North East during the coronavirus lockdown. 

They also complain about feeling ignored by Mr Cummings’s No10 operation, and are suspicious about the £7million in Government contracts which have been awarded to individuals and companies linked to the Downing Street adviser, such as the artificial intelligence company Faculty, run by the brother of a No10 aide. 

One Tory MP said: ‘It is true to say that a lot of us feel ignored by the centre, and this ‘star wars’ obsession is presenting itself as the perfect target for a proxy protest.’ 

The MPs are also concerned about the value for taxpayers’ money offered by the new agency, citing Mr Cummings’s remarks in 2018: ‘If you want big successes, you have to accept failures.’ 

Projects that could be developed by the agency include gene-editing and green power. 

Boris fights his ‘West Wing’ plans for No10 

Boris Johnson has joined forces with senior civil servants to resist moves by No10 adviser Dominic Cummings to shift them to a new suite of West Wing-style offices in Whitehall. 

According to senior Government sources, the Prime Minister has spent six months objecting to Mr Cummings’s attempt to move him out of the ramshackle No10 ‘den’ where he works and into an open-plan space more similar to the West Wing of the White House, including large television screens displaying the ‘performance data’ of the Civil Service. 

The Prime Minister has spent six months objecting to Mr Cummings’s attempt to move him out of the ramshackle No10 ‘den’

It is part of a wider attempt by Mr Cummings to restructure the relationship between No10 and the Civil Service to give Downing Street more control over the Whitehall machinery. 

But Mr Johnson is understood to share the reluctance of senior mandarins to make the move, and has indicated his intention to stay in the cramped office with its threadbare carpets, trailing wires and overflowing bookshelves. 

Other officials, including Mr Johnson’s private office and members of his policy unit, will move to new rooms in the Cabinet Office. 

It is part of a wider attempt by Mr Cummings (pictured) to restructure the relationship between No10 and the Civil Service to give Downing Street more control over the Whitehall machinery.

It is part of a plan by Mr Cummings to centralise and streamline the often cumbersome decision-making processes in No10 – a move civil servants have privately characterised as a ‘power grab’. 

The rickety corridors and offices of Downing Street create an often claustrophobic atmosphere for officials and political advisers, and have also been linked to the rapid spread of the coronavirus to Mr Johnson and his inner circle earlier this year. 

A source said last night: ‘Boris likes his cosy office but Dom might still get his way.’ 

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