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Labour's Angela Rayner slams government over its ‘dodgy’ and ‘illegal’ VIP lane

THE government’s so-called VIP lane for personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts was not just “dodgy” but “illegal,” Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said today.

Speaking during Cabinet Office questions in the Commons, Ms Rayner pressed the government over the High Court judgement that its use of the lane to award multimillion-pound contracts was unlawful.

The Good Law Project and campaign group EveryDoctor took legal action over contracts worth almost £600 million awarded to pest control firm PestFix and hedge fund Ayanda Capital at the height of the coronavirus pandemic’s first wave.

Ms Rayner said that Cabinet Office ministers had stood at the dispatch box “time and time again” and claimed that “detailed diligence and full financial checks were done.”

However, on Wednesday, the court “found that the Cabinet Office simply did not have the resources necessary to undertake due diligence.”

In reply, Cabinet Office Minister Steve Barclay said: “The court acknowledged that it is highly unlikely that the outcome would have been substantially different if a different assessment process had been followed.”

Labour is calling for an independent investigation into the award of the contracts.

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