David Cameron has shrugged off claims that he 'chillaxes' too much at weekends by playing games on his iPad

David Cameron has defended his style of government against claims he "chillaxes" too much at weekends by playing games on his iPad. He insisted he was driven like Lady Thatcher to achieve "massive radical and structural reforms".

The prime minister pointed to his examination of radical "no fault" options to make it easier to dismiss workers as a way of boosting employment in the UK.

Cameron was in part responding to reports that his former strategy adviser, Steve Hilton, had become disillusioned with his excessive enjoyment of the premiership for its own sake, and had allowed the civil service to dominate the pace of reform. He was accused by one unnamed Conservative MP in the Financial Times last month of "putting the school run ahead of the national interest".

Cameron described the apparent briefings from Hilton as similar to a valedictory telegram from an outgoing ambassador, but described the accounts of the time he spent relaxing as coming from "a fascinating novel".

Asked about the reports that he takes too much time off, the prime minister said: "I have not had time to read this stuff, I have been a bit busy. It is an enormous privilege to do this job. It requires huge dedication and work, and I am completely dedicated to the work".

On being called DVD Dave, he added: "You get called a lot of things in this job. I am sure I will gather some more epithets and soubriquets along the way".

He insisted No 10 under his premiership "has been a driver for change and my job now is making sure we are implementing properly the reforms".

He also defended his willingness to delegate, saying: "I do believe you should appoint good people to your Cabinet and trust them to deliver reforms."

Asked if he had lapsed into being an administrator in the manner of Harold Macmillan as opposed to a Thatcherite reformer, he insisted: "There are many things this government has done that previous reforming governments were not able to do."

He then cited a long list of policies including reforms to pensions, student finance, welfare, tax reform and a lower top rate of tax. He added: "We have created more academies in two years than Tony Blair managed in 10."

Cameron also signalled his intention to reform the civil service further to make it leaner and more effective, but pointed out it was already at its smallest since the second world war, saying this was a fundamental change that only a radical government could achieve.

He said he was in favour of publication of the Beecroft report into employment laws, which is due this week, adding that options such as "no fault dismissal" should be kept on the table. The report has taken on near mythical status on the Conservative right as a solution to achieving economic growth.

He said: "I am interested in anything that makes it easier for one person to say to another person 'come and work for me' because we need to make our economies flexible.

"I'm not particularly wedded to one set of proposals or another but as part of our growth and enterprise agenda we should be open to all thinking about what could make that process easier, of which this is clearly a contribution.

"I don't think there's a conflict between family friendly policies on the one hand and pro-business policies on the other. The economy will be stronger if we find ways of encouraging people back into work."