Boris Johnson has denied he tried to block an official leak inquiry following a a blistering attack by his former top adviser Dominic Cummings.
In a furious outburst, Mr Cummings questioned the PM's "competence and integrity" and accused Mr Johnson of being responsible for a series of false allegations about him in the media.
Mr Cummings denied he was responsible for the leak of private texts in which the PM promised to “fix” a tax issue for the entrepreneur Sir James Dyson regarding the procurement of ventilators at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The former Number 10 aide accused the PM of seeking to halt the investigation into the leak of plans for a second lockdown after he was warned a close friend of his fiancee Carrie Symonds could be implicated.
He also claimed Mr Johnson had attempted an “unethical, foolish, possibly illegal” plan to get Tory donors to fund the lavish refurbishment of his official Downing Street flat.
The claims prompted speculation Mr Cummings is bent on revenge after his dramatic departure last year from No 10 amid a bitter internal power struggle with Ms Symonds.
Ministers are braced for further allegations when he appears next month before MPs investigating the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Johnson sought to brush off the charges saying the public did not “give a monkey’s” about such matters.
Asked by LBC radio if he had tried to block the leak inquiry, the Prime Minister replied: “No, of course not.”
Downing Street said in a statement that ministers had acted at all times “in accordance with the appropriate codes of conduct and electoral law”.
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