How much trouble is Matt Hancock in after Dominic Cummings’s claims?

The health secretary will have to fight to restore his reputation after he was accused of ‘criminal, disgraceful behaviour’. Adam Forrest looks at the battle ahead

Matt Hancock is due to appear before the Health Select Committee next month (Getty)

Government ministers and their top officials have been nervously wondering for several weeks where exactly the most damaging “Dom bombs” were going to fall.

It’s now clear that Dominic Cummings had Matt Hancock in his sights – singling out the health secretary for heavy and repeated bombardment during Wednesday’s testimony to the joint inquiry of MPs examining the government’s response to the pandemic.

Boris Johnson’s former senior adviser accused Hancock of “criminal, disgraceful behaviour” by interfering with the fledgling test and trace system and claimed that the minister fell “disastrously below” the standards expected during a public health crisis.