Tories dished out £114 million to companies for undelivered or cancelled Covid contracts — 86% of that cash went to firms linked with senior Tory figures
Tories dished out £114 million to companies for undelivered or cancelled Covid contracts
Posted by marketrent
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Excerpts from [article](https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/tories-dished-out-114-million-to-companies-for-undelivered-or-cancelled-covid-contracts-383278/) by Jack Peat about [investigation](https://goodlawproject.org/tories-shelled-out-114m-in-payouts-for-undelivered-covid-contracts/) by Good Law Project:
*The Conservative Party handed out payments worth £114 million for undelivered or cancelled Covid contracts before they were booted out of office – with 86 per cent of that going to firms linked with senior Tory figures.*
*An investigation by the Good Law Project has revealed that hundreds of millions of taxpayer funds were dished out by the Health Department and the UK Health Security Agency after cancelling contracts for equipment that was never needed or items which didn’t meet specifications.*
*The vast majority of that cash went to Tory-linked companies and people who secured contracts through the so-called VIP lane.*
*One such company, named Ecolog, got a payout of £38 million even though it never provided any services at all.*
Who cares about that, Kier Starmer got some glasses!
My bare minimum hope for Labour was that they would get in and start some Royal Commissions into government corruption and Parliamentary practises to make sure that – if the Tories don’t face repercussions for what they did – it at least couldn’t happen again.
I don’t have hope the economy will be magically fixed in 5 years, that prisons and hospitals will spring up out of nowhere, that 15 years of austerity will ever be undone. But *at the very least*, put some rules in place to enforce Codes of Conduct and give oversight bodies enough teeth to stop the grift.
You know the word justice is thrown around when politicians want the public or media backing on issues they feel strongly about. Can the general public not actually demand the people who took public money for literally nothing! Pay it back in asset or capital?
Are we forever in the habit of saying “well you cheeky lot. This is the last time you’ll get away with this”… Time to pay the bloody Piper!
No no. Labour are the bad guys. Did you hear kier starmer got a free upgrade on his season ticket? Lock him up
This is why we’re having Angela Rayner’s New York holiday shoved down our throats by the right-wing media. Some Labour MPs didn’t properly report gifts from donors. Some Conservative MPs established a system to embezzle government money that was earmarked to save people’s lives.
It’s appalling to think that really, none of us would be remotely surprised if nothing ever happens to those responsible for or part of this sees any kind of repurcussions.
My largest hope is this means a series of changes that ensure that going forward, not only will this not happen again but there’s some actual consequences beyond a slapped wrist _as_ a consequence.
Followed very closely by a “and the PM can’t just veto who gets away with it or not”.
Can we jail, deport and/or execute these people? (In Minecraft)
Don’t worry Labour will catch up in no time to scandals like this.
See also – [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cevj3y7n33vo](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cevj3y7n33vo)
***An anti-corruption charity says it has identified significant concerns in contracts worth over £15.3bn awarded by the Conservative government during the Covid pandemic, equivalent to one in every £3 spent.***
*Transparency International UK found 135 “high-risk” contracts with at least three red flags – warning signs of a risk of corruption.*
*Twenty-eight contracts worth £4.1bn went to firms with known political connections, while 51 worth £4bn went through a “VIP lane” for companies recommended by MPs and peers, a practice the High Court ruled was unlawful.*
*A Conservative spokesperson said: “Government policy was in no way influenced by the donations the party received – they are entirely separate.”*
*Transparency International UK analysed 5,000 contracts for red flags.*
*The charity said its analysis also indicated that almost two thirds of high-value contracts to supply items such as masks and protective medical equipment during the pandemic, adding up to a total of £30.7bn, were awarded without any competition.*
*A further eight contracts worth a total of £500m went to suppliers no more than 100 days old – another red flag for corruption.*
The fact that this level and scale of just outright corruption, during a moment of existential crisis that killed hundreds of thousands of us no less, has all been swept under the carpet for so long is just absolutely fucking shocking. To hear the media talk so much about Starmer accepting a seat upgrade at his team’s football stadium, when we were just expected to sit stum and not rock any boats over an issue like this is a complete travesty. This issue should be front-page news until those responsible are handed criminal sentences, it is continually shocking to me that it isn’t.
But Keir starmer accepted football seats!
The absolute temerity of Tory MPs and their supporters knows no bounds as they attack Labour over what is trifling amounts whilst their own administration gave out millions, to themselves or partners….
Tory shill Kuenssberg is very quiet on this. Yet she is more than happy to rant about ministers pay whilst pocketing twice as much from the tv licence payers.
I’m struggling for honest unbiased media. Is Byeline Times any good?
What does ‘linked’ mean? No elaboration needed, people will just read this and be outraged? This is such shit journalism.
Are Labour going to do anything about it? Not a chance, because they’ve probably already started doing it now.
But but but but but……….sausages, and Angela Raynor……….
Make sense that the papers are amplifying the taylor swift tickets etc.
Quick get the public to think they are all the same! Then if labour try and do anything in repsonse to the covid stuff they will look like hypocrites!! Sigh
And no doubt the tories will face absolute sweet f*ck all in repercussions for this.
“Oops!”
But let’s face it, this will continue to be swept under the rug, due to corrupt higher powers.