LABOUR accused Health Secretary Matt Hancock today of deflecting blame for the shortage of Covid-19 tests after he alleged that too many people were seeking “inappropriate” tests.

Mr Hancock said there had been an increase in the number of people without symptoms seeking tests, and that a quarter of those being tested were not “eligible”

Rejecting accusations that the test system was failing, he said that free tests for asymptomatic people were available in some high-risk circumstances, such as in care homes.