Matt Hancock said he has not seen Dominic Cummings’ “performance” in full, after the Prime Minister’s former aide told MPs he should have been sacked as Health Secretary.

Mr Cummings said Mr Hancock should have been fired over coronavirus failings and “criminal, disgraceful behaviour” on the testing target.

Boris Johnson’s ex-adviser also said Whitehall’s top official recommended to the Prime Minister that Mr Hancock should be sacked.

As he arrived at his north London home on Wednesday evening, Mr Hancock was asked for his reaction to Mr Cummings’ allegations to MPs, and he replied: “I haven’t seen this performance today in full, and instead I’ve been dealing with getting the vaccination rollout going, especially to over-30s, and saving lives.

“I’ll be giving a statement to the House of Commons tomorrow and I’ll have more to say then.”

Downing Street did not deny that the Prime Minister considered sacking the Health Secretary in April last year but insisted Mr Johnson has confidence in him now, as Mr Hancock disputed the allegations.

Mr Cummings said there were around 20 reasons why Mr Hancock should have been thrown out of the Cabinet – including, he claimed, lying both in meetings and publicly.

Mr Hancock used chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance as “shields” to blame for his failures, Mr Cummings claimed.

He said Mr Hancock performed “disastrously” below the standards expected and the cabinet secretary – the country’s top civil servant – recommended the Health Secretary should be sacked.