SHAMEFUL government plans to burn £4 billion of unusable personal protective equipment (PPE) to generate power have been slammed as a “toxic waste” of taxpayers’ money.

The public accounts committee (PAC) said that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) lost 75 per cent of the £12bn it spent on PPE in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic to inflated prices and faulty kit.

This included £4bn worth which could not be used because it did not meet NHS standards.