Latest editorial
by Bethany Rielly
THE government has spent almost £2 billion on “crony contracts” with Tory donors and friends during the pandemic, alarming Labour Party research revealed today.
Having put the total at more than £1bn last October, Labour’s new findings suggest that Tory cronies have since received almost another £1bn in Covid-19 procurement contracts.
The splurge came even after the National Audit Office’s warning last November that usual standards of transparency were being eroded and that firms recommended by MPs, peers and ministers’ offices were being given priority for personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts.
Martin Taylor, the hedge-fund multimillionaire who has poured millions into pushing Labour rightwards, helped finance Lucy Powell’s supposedly dissenting campaign — suggesting her victory was not the ‘soft-left’ rebellion some have claimed, says SOLOMON HUGHES
It is rather strange that Labour continues to give prestigious roles to inappropriate, controversy-mired businessmen who are also major Tory donors. What could Labour possibly be hoping to get out of it, asks SOLOMON HUGHES
Politicians who continue to welcome contracts with US companies without considering the risks and consequences of total dependency in the years to come are undermining the raison d’etre of the NHS, argues Dr JOHN PUNTIS