More than three-quarters of the Covid-19 testing contracts were handed to firms in so-called ‘VIP lanes’, it has been revealed.
A report from The Committee of Public Accounts has revealed the extent to which cronyism underscored the government’s rapid response to the outbreak of the virus.
Not only did the inquiry find numerous issues with contracts handed to Randox – including failures in basic record-keeping and gaps in conflict-of-interest
declarations – but they also lay bare the number of contracts that were handed to businesses referred from ministers, MPs, or Number 10.
The report notes that these priority suppliers received £6 billion of the £7.9 billion of testing contracts awarded between May 2020 to March 2021 – or the equivalent of 75.9 per cent.
Speaking to The London Economic, Marina Purkiss said: “I don’t think people will ever realise how scandalous that was.
“We’re talking about the biggest transfer of wealth from the taxpayer’s pocket into the pockets of the already very wealthy connected Tory cronies.”
Watch her comments in full below:
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