PRIVATEERS must be kicked out of public health, campaigners urged today, after a Commons committee report found “no clear evidence” that the outsourced Covid-19 test-and-trace scheme is working.

Despite an expected cost of £37 billion, the programme, run in part by bungling private contractor Serco, has failed to contribute to a reduction in coronavirus infection levels, the Commons public accounts committee (PAC) revealed today.

PAC chairwoman Meg Hillier urged the government to justify the “staggering investment of taxpayers’ money.”