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- Dominic Cummings has set up a new Substack, with subjects to include coronavirus and his time "inside No 10".
- Cummings is also using his Substack to offer his skills as a consultant.
- His failure to seek approval before establishing the enterprise appears to break government rules.
- He says he will publish evidence about Johnson's handling of the Covid pandemic on his Substack.
- Revealing government secrets outside of parliamentary privilege could open him up to legal action.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Boris Johnson's former chief advisor Dominic Cummings appears to have broken rules requiring him to seek official advice before setting up a new paid-for Substack newsletter and offering his skills as a management consultant.
On Thursday, Dominic Cummings started a Substack newsletter, promising a mixture of free and paid content including details on his time in Downing Street. He says that "a lot of" his writing on coronavirus and some writing on his time in Downing Street will be free, while other more "recondite" – or concealed – content on Downing Street as well as commentary on the media, Westminster, and the 2019 general election will be for subscribers only.
Cummings is also offering his skills, as well as those of his network, to people hoping to win elections, improve their marketing, solve management problems, predict events, establish dashboards, and to hear him talk, saying that "fees slide from zero to lots depending on who you are / your project…"
However, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), which considers applications under the Business Appointment Rules from the most senior civil servants and their special adviser equivalents, has confirmed to Insider that they have not had an application from Cummings.
ACOBA's form for former civil servants and special advisers includes sections for those establishing an independent consultancy. The guidance says that "information about any specific commissions, including speculative commissions if available, will be helpful to the Committee in formulating its view of the consultancy and whether to recommend that any conditions should be applied to it."
They would then provide advice on each commission taken up by the consultancy after it was established. By not going to ACOBA, Cummings will avoid them publishing whatever commissions he takes up through his consultancy.
Their guidance also refers to individuals entering into a "longer-term arrangement" of speaking engagements, media appearances, and newspaper articles. These individuals, as opposed to those who might carry out an activity as a one-off, must also consult ACOBA prior to taking up the work.
Failing to consult ACOBA has few repercussions aside from the publication of a letter from ACOBA's chair to the Cabinet Office and potentially making the chance of receiving an honour, such as a knighthood, or OBE, even lower than it already is.
A former senior government official told Insider: "It is little surprise that someone who's reported to have said a 'hard rain' was going to fall on Whitehall is ignoring the requirements the rest of us have to follow. And it's unlikely that much sleep will be lost at the prospect that a breach of the Business Appointment Rules could affect his chance of receiving an honour.
"Still, given he told the select committee 'there are all sorts of ways in which you could have greater transparency', it's strange he's not starting with his own post-government roles."
Cummings, who gave dramatic testimony in late May to a parliamentary inquiry into lessons learned from the government's response to coronavirus, promised he would submit evidence to back up allegations he made. He is yet to do so. But he says on his Substack that "I will expand here soon on the evidence I gave to MPs and publish evidence to encourage MPs to take responsibility and force such an inquiry to happen as soon as possible".
ACOBA's guidance says former special advisers "must not, at any time, draw on any privileged information gained in office" in their post-government activities.
Publishing evidence via Substack as opposed to submitting it to the parliamentary inquiry on lessons learned for them to publish will also mean Cummings will not enjoy the protections of parliamentary privilege.
Even if the Committee goes on to publish evidence submitted after publication by Substack, parliamentary privilege will not apply, potentially opening him up to legal action.
Parliament's advice to witnesses writing evidence for submission to select committees also says witnesses should not "write more than 3,000 words", which could pose a challenge for Cummings, whose blog posts have been as long as 22,309 words long, according to Tortoise.
Subscriptions to Cummings's Substack range from £10 a month to £100 a year. Cummings also offers a founding member subscription plan for £200 a year, saying founding members will receive "Gratitude + I'll think about this…!"
On Thursday, Cummings tweeted: "I've turned down all cheques from media & gave public evidence instead, I c[oul]d make money out of it but am not - it costs me money spending time on this".
Prior to leaving the government, Cummings was in the top pay band of special advisers, receiving between £140,000 and £144,999 a year.
Cummings, who is bound by the Official Secrets Act after employment, could also face bureaucratic difficulty if he publishes, as promised, details of his time in Number 10.
The Code of Conduct for Special Advisers states that prior to entering into contractual commitments to publish personal memoirs on their experience in Government, special advisers must seek the permission of the head of their former Department as well as the Cabinet Secretary, and provide them, as well as the Prime Minister's chief of staff draft manuscripts in advance of publication.
Asked on Friday about the potential of Cummings selling secrets on Substack, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesperson said: "We expect all current and former advisers to act in full accordance with the special advisers' code of conduct".
Insider has contacted Cummings for comment.