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The TalkRADIO host accused NHS and Public Health England chiefs of mishandling the coronavirus pandemic in the UK and defended the Government’s approach to the crisis. But as she did so, the Liberal Democrats’ acting leader Ed Davey accused Ms Hartley-Brewer of colluding with the Government as he asked her: “Are you being paid by Number 10?” The question sparked the furious reaction of the radio host who blasted: “Excuse me, excuse me? How dare you ask that question?

“I’m sure they felt that when I said that Dominic Cummings should lose his job.

“I’ve been very critical, I had the Health Secretary on yesterday, criticising him for the lack of PPE.”

As Sir Ed joked “I’m delighted to hear it, I must have missed the programme”, she hit back: “Yes, you should probably listen to my show, you’d probably learn more, Sir.”

The Lib Dem MP claimed an independent inquiry into the Government’s handling of the pandemic will reveal who was responsible for the decisions made by the administration.

He pointed out that whilst parts of the NHS are independent from the Government, Public Health England directly responds to the Health Secretary.

On Wednesday, Boris Johnson committed to an “independent inquiry” into the handling of the pandemic, but said now is not the “right moment” for it.

But Downing Street was unable to give any further details about the nature of the independent inquiry when pressed on whether it will be judge-led, when it will begin or whether it will be under the 2005 Inquiries Act.

Instead, a No 10 spokesman said: “It’s an independent inquiry. I haven’t got any more detail for you on how it would work. We will set that out in due course.”

The Prime Minister was also challenged about preparations for a second wave following the publication of a report commissioned by Government advisers warning that there could be 120,000 hospital deaths in a “reasonable worst-case scenario” if the disease rebounds in winter.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Johnson is “kidding no-one” by claiming the Test and Trace operation had been a “stunning success”.

The report from the Academy of Medical Sciences, commissioned by the Government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, says action must be taken now to mitigate the potential for a second peak of Covid-19, including scaling up the Test and Trace system.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Johnson said: “Our Test and Trace system is as good as or better than any other system in the world and, yes, it will play a vital part in ensuring that we do not have a second spike this winter.”

Some 144,000 people had self-isolated as a result of being contacted by NHS Test and Trace, he said.

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Asked if he had read the scientists’ findings, Mr Johnson said he was “aware of the report” and claimed the Government was taking “every reasonable step” to prepare the country to cope with a possible second spike in cases.

The Prime Minister accused the Labour leader of “endlessly knocking the confidence of the people of this country” by criticising the Government’s actions.

Sir Keir said the percentage of people contacted and asked to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace had gone down since it was launched.

“It’s perfectly possible to support track and trace and point out the problems,” he told the Prime Minister.

“Standing up every week and saying it’s a ‘stunning success’ is kidding no-one – that isn’t giving people confidence in the system.

“They would want a Prime Minister who stands up and says ‘There are problems and this is what I’m going to do about them’ – not this rhetoric about ‘stunning success’ when it’s obviously not true.”

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