GORDON BROWN said today that the Downing Street drama over Dominic Cummings reflects the “dysfunction” of the whole country in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The former prime minister’s comments came after PM Boris Johnson gave special adviser and chief of staff Dominic Cummings his marching orders on Friday.

Mr Brown said that the Downing Street infighting was likely to continue as there were too many factions in the Conservative Party.

He said: “This is not simply a problem of a dysfunctional Downing Street, this is a dysfunctional UK, and we really need a wholesale root-and-branch constitutional review to bring people together at a later stage.

“You’ve got 27,000 new [coronavirus] cases, 500 deaths, you’ve got a million young people looking for work, you’ve got people without savings planning for Christmas.”

Mr Cummings’s dramatic departure came a day after Mr Johnson’s director of communications Lee Cain resigned.

MPs blamed the pair, who worked together on Vote Leave during the EU referendum in 2016, for a toxic work culture inside No 10 and a series of communications crises.

According to reports, tensions were heightened last week when Mr Johnson was shown “hostile texts” briefing against his fiancee, former Conservative Party director of communications Carrie Symonds, which had been forwarded to her.

The row is being interpreted as a weakening of Brexiteers within the Tory government which could presage a return to openly pro-globalisation policies more attuned to a post-Trump White House’s wishes.

Nonetheless, Mr Cummings and Mr Cain are due to continue to work for Downing Street until mid-December.