Entertainment
HIGNFY’s Ian Hislop slams Dominic Cummings hearing as ‘one of the most disgusting performances in public life’
Ian Hislop did not mince his words when it came to Dominic Cummings’ appearance at the Commons Select Committee this week, slamming it as ‘one of the most disgusting performances in public life.’
The Have I Got News For You team captain, 60, and the rest of the panel picked apart the seven-hour hearing in which Cummings gave evidence about how Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his team handled the coronavirus pandemic.
Other captain Paul Merton said: ‘Dominic Cummings has been giving evidence, Seven hours’ worth I believe. He made lots of powerful statements and somebody’s lying, somewhere in the middle of all this. Not everybody is telling the truth.
‘He’s made various accusations and Boris and Matt Hancock have denied them.’
Hislop – who was joined by David Mitchell – joked: ‘It’s good that we’ve got David on tonight, because it’s an episode of Would I Lie To You?’, and the answer is, for everyone… yes they did.
‘He said “Boris Johnson is not fit to be Prime Minister.” Of course he isn’t, he appointed you! That doesn’t take eight hours, does it?’
Hislop added: ‘He did that classic thing at the start of saying it’s all everybody else’s fault. Would you believe it?
‘The government has really handled this very badly… if only there’d been someone at the heart of government who could have said “this whole thing is going wrong.” Maybe an advisor… maybe a senior advisor…
‘It was one of the most disgusting performances in public life that I can remember.’
Mitchell asked: ‘Assuming we can believe a word the devious b*****d says, who is to blame for everything?’
‘The Prime Minister is to blame for everything, and the Prime Minister should never have become Prime Minister. Except, this is the man who almost single-handedly worked to make him Prime Minister,’ replied Hislop.
‘It’s absolutely extraordinary that he only noticed that the Prime Minister was utterly useless when he was sacked.
‘It just didn’t occur to him the whole time he was on board with the project, and then suddenly, “Oh my goodness, I’ve suddenly realised… you’re an idiot, and so am I!”’
The new episode was the second of the series to be filmed in front of a live audience, with members being socially distanced and sat in household groups and wearing masks to adhere to government guidelines.
Have I Got News For You continues on BBC One at 9.00pm tonight, guest hosted by David Mitchell.
MORE : Tributes come in as Frankenstein star Shane Briant ‘dies aged 74 after long and terrible illness’
