The Justice secretary has attempted to shift focus from former No 10 aide Dominic Cummings’ allegations that the prime minister lied to parliament over lockdown-defying gatherings.

Yesterday evening Mr Cummings, who left his role at No 10 in November 2020, alleged that himself and other witnesses were willing to swear under oath that Boris Johnson “lied to Parliament about parties” at Downing Street.

He went on to claim that there are “many other photos of parties after I left yet to appear”.

Dominic Raab told Sky News Breakfast programme earlier today that : “The PM’s been very clear that’s not true or accurate. Forgive me if I don’t get drawn into the soap opera of what one or other claim has been made.

“I’ve been clear that I think it’s a serious issue, which is why we’ve got that serious investigation. I’m not going to get into commenting on every little snippet in the papers.

“People want us to look at the things that matter in their daily lives, which is coming out of this pandemic, the economic measures we’ve taken, getting ourselves back on the front foot and the crime fighting agenda.”

He later told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that it would be “for Sue Gray,” to decide if Cummings was a credible witness.