Re Cummings.
His rantings today are all about his ego. His argument is incoherent and largely getting taken apart on Newsnight by people who are generally actually anti-Johnson.
This does not mean that Johnson is fit for office or wasn't negligent on the job.
More that Cummings rantings about how we need these amazing super hero people like him in the civil service, is frankly largely unrealistic and a fantasy. If for no other reason but the public sector pay is pretty shitty in comparison for what these super heroes would be paid in the private sector.
His ideas of revolutionising things fall flat on their arse like fantasies about the most amazing trade deal in history with the EU being anything but being in the EU.
As for Russian money. Money always chases power and vice versa. The Conservative Party is supported by some of the most wealthy people in the UK. They will always gravitate to others with money from across the globe because of business. Russians coming here aren't any different to Saudias or UAE citizens. Its just about money and power. Of course this makes it not that difficult for foreign powers with state related reasons to take advantage of that opportunity / cover. Its what every Bond movie is about. I'd argue there isn't a great deal of difference between lobbying and international espionage at times because its all about trying to influence people to do the things you want which are aligned with your own political ambition.
The UK doesn't have a lot of anti lobbying laws. And it has long been a centre for the ultra rich going back centuries. And we aren't too bothered about off shore bank accounts etc (much less than we should be).
I don't believe it's restricted to the Conservative Party particularly though. If we had a Labour government we'd see similar - they have plenty of wealthy donors - indeed where is a lot of the influence for identity politics coming from? Clue: Its not being led by the working class white van man from Hull nor the dyed in the wool former mining union rep from St Helens. The main difference is merely that the Conservative Party has more super rich supporters and so we get more of the same effect of flies around horse shit.
Ultimately the problem come back to an issue in the uk with the ability to offshore your money and to bypass taxation via a bloody good accountant. Something that you have to be earning above a certain amount to afford in the first place.
I said before Cummings would try and seek revenge for his sacking. At this point why the media continues to feed his ego is beyond me.