Health Secretary Matt Hancock has denied claims he lied about the Covid pandemic after a scathing attack by Dominic Cummings, saying “we have been straight with people”.
Mr Hancock said: “These allegations that were put yesterday… are serious allegations and I welcome the opportunity to come to the house to put formally on the record that these unsubstantiated allegations around honesty are not true.
“I’ve been straight with people in public and in private throughout.”
One of the key claims made by Mr Cummings was that the health secretary lied about Covid testing people before they returned to care homes.
Addressing that specific allegation, Hancock said: “We followed the clinical advice on the appropriate way forward.”
He added that “so many of the allegations were unsubstantiated”.
Boris Johnson, on a visit to a hospital on Thursday, avoided questions about whether he had confidence in Hancock.
But he did deny Cummings’ claim that thousands of people needlessly died because of the prime minister.
During a seven-hour session on Wednesday, Cummings claimed he, the cabinet secretary and other senior officials continually called for the health secretary to be sacked for “15 to 20 things”, including lying on multiple occasions.
Cummings accused Hancock of “criminal, disgraceful behaviour that caused serious harm”.
Among the alleged lies were, Cummings said, that there was a protective shield around care homes when in fact people with Covid-19 were being sent back to care homes without being tested.