PPE was on average 80% more expensive when the government bought it from firms referred through a special “VIP lane” by Conservative ministers, MPs and officials, new information has revealed.
The Good Law Project, which has long been investigating PPE deals during the Covid pandemic, said internal government documents showed that the unit price paid for items under VIP lane contracts was up to four times higher than average.
“We are extremely proud of the role we played at the height of the Covid-19 crisis and managed to secure more than 100m items of PPE – including masks, sanitiser, coveralls and gloves direct from the manufacturers – at a time when they were most needed.
“As a company Meller Designs has been in business for more than 100 years but we can honestly say this was one of the most difficult and important contracts we have ever been asked to respond to and we would like to thank all our colleagues who worked so hard to make it happen.”
Separately, the Conservative peer Michelle Mone said she was wrong to publicly deny involvement in a PPE firm now under investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Mone had lobbied ministers, including the communities secretary, Michael Gove, and officials for PPE Medpro to win contracts and it went on to obtain £200m in deals to supply masks and medical gowns.
The original article contains 735 words, the summary contains 229 words. Saved 69%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
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PPE was on average 80% more expensive when the government bought it from firms referred through a special “VIP lane” by Conservative ministers, MPs and officials, new information has revealed.
The Good Law Project, which has long been investigating PPE deals during the Covid pandemic, said internal government documents showed that the unit price paid for items under VIP lane contracts was up to four times higher than average.
“We are extremely proud of the role we played at the height of the Covid-19 crisis and managed to secure more than 100m items of PPE – including masks, sanitiser, coveralls and gloves direct from the manufacturers – at a time when they were most needed.
“As a company Meller Designs has been in business for more than 100 years but we can honestly say this was one of the most difficult and important contracts we have ever been asked to respond to and we would like to thank all our colleagues who worked so hard to make it happen.”
Separately, the Conservative peer Michelle Mone said she was wrong to publicly deny involvement in a PPE firm now under investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Mone had lobbied ministers, including the communities secretary, Michael Gove, and officials for PPE Medpro to win contracts and it went on to obtain £200m in deals to supply masks and medical gowns.
The original article contains 735 words, the summary contains 229 words. Saved 69%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!