Dominic Cummings: Michel Barnier ‘lazy’ and a ‘bullshitter’

Dominic Cummings, once Boris Johnson’s top aide and current thorn in the side of pretty much everyone, has described former EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as “emotional,” “lazy” and a “bullshitter.”

Cummings took to Twitter to slap down a tweet from Andrew Adonis, a former British Cabinet minister and now Labour member of the House of Lords, who said Barnier’s book “My Secret Brexit Diary,” which is about to be released in English, “reinforces my view that Brexit was a catastrophe for Britain — Barnier was better than all Britain’s negotiators put together and ran rings around Lord [David] Frost.”

Cummings disagreed, calling out Adonis’ “usual ignorance” and describing Barnier as “an emotional/bullshitter/lazy/DDavis type” — a reference to former U.K. Brexit Secretary David Davis, who once said of his job: “I don’t have to be very clever. I don’t have to know that much. I just do have to be calm.”

Cummings was, however, full of praise for Stéphanie Riso, a former member of Barnier’s negotiating team who developed a reputation for competence on both sides of the Brexit debate, saying she was “our real opponent, smart, subtle, tough, perceptive,” and adding: “Lucky for us (esp at end when PM was caving on many fronts) Barnier often sidelined her.”

Since being sacked by Johnson, Cummings fills his time with writing on Substack, sharing his musings with the masses, settling scores and burning bridges. Barnier, who wants to be the next president of France, caused a stir this month by calling for a referendum on immigration and complaining about a loss of French sovereignty to the EU — arguments he fought against when made by the Brits during his EU stint.