As the UK's health secretary announced rolling out the nation's new track and trace scheme overnight, it was overshadowed again by mounting calls for PM Boris Johnson to sack his top aide.
Appearing via video link, the Prime Minister defended his chief adviser after being grilled by the Liaison Committee for more than 90 minutes in his very first appearance since becoming Prime Minister last July.
He rejected any calls for chief adviser Dominic Cummings to face an inquiry after he travelled with his family 400kms northeast of England while showing coronavirus symptoms under lockdown rules.
One Labour MP asked, "You have a choice between protecting Cummings and putting the national interest first, which will it be Prime Minister?"
Mr Johnson replied: "I think my choice is the choice the British people all want us to make ... That is to lay aside the party political point-scoring and put the national interest first."
He described the row over Mr Cummings as a "political ding dong" and on a number of occasions said the country wanted to move on.
But a revolt within the Conservative Party continues to grow, with at least 44 Tory MPs publicly calling for Mr Cummings to resign or be sacked.
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