Corruption or sensible spending?

I agree with you, but nobody much seems to care. The opposition should be talking about this at every possible opportunity. I have heard Caroline Lucas object to this, but can't think of anyone else.

The appointment of Kate Bingham, friend of the Johnson family and wife of another Tory MP is just another example.

www.cityam.com/vaccine-taskforce-chief-spends-670000-on-pr-team/

Jo Maugham QC

So Johnson's sister's cousin by marriage bungs - almost certainly unlawfully - a £670k contract to a PR firm connected to Dominic Cummings' father-in-law.

Is there some unwritten Tory rule that you can only do business with your relatives? Honestly!

This government is morally bankrupt! I’m sure there must be some Tories out there that aren’t compromised. Where are they? Criticism always rife about the Labour Party?

The Tories are disgraceful!

Boris's knighthood to his brother for no apparent reason made my blood boil.

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“There is overwhelming evidence that entities connected to key government figures have made staggering fortunes from these procurement contracts,”
@JolyonMaugham

@GoodLawProject

Corruption clearly

All contracts like this should have to be advertised on a properly supervised government website, so that anyone caan see them and tender or make an application for inclusion.

That PR team one is an absolute shocker

I assume that the Government is using emergency powers to make these procurement appointments.

This morning I learned that Dido Harding is the wife of a Tory MP. She's had a few top jobs and reminds me of Failing Grayling. What a disastrous pair they would make running anything!

I hope Jolyon Maugham's legal action exposes it all.

Lucca

That PR team one is an absolute shocker

It gets even worse. It's rumoured now that the PR company receiving the money is linked to Cummings' father-in-law (the one who believes in eugenics). It's only a rumour and I'll follow it up.

Kate Bingham hasn't even been sacked. She was only going to stay until the end of the year anyway - but enough time to hand out the dosh.

The rumour comes from the FT news editor, so not some shady conspiracy site. Apparently, the PR company has two directors, one of whom is a long-time business associate of Cummings' father-in-law. (The plot thickens and smells distinctly iffy.)

This morning I learned that Dido Harding is the wife of a Tory MP.

The greatest irony of all is that Harding's husband is not only a tory MP but is actually The 'United Kingdom Anti- corruption Champion'

No, you just couldn't make it up, could you

What worries me is that Dido Harding is also the favourite to take over from Simon Stevens running the whole NHS - can you imagine?

B9exchange

What worries me is that Dido Harding is also the favourite to take over from Simon Stevens running the whole NHS - can you imagine?

Considering her hubby, who is on the board of the neo-liberal think tank 1828, wants to get rid of the NHS, she might not be in the job for long.

It is a bit of a problem isn't it these days, many women have high powered careers and, despite online dating, tend to meet and match with people in their work/social circle, so you are going to have these problems, especially in bubble worlds like Parliament, where husband and wife are in senior positions in closely contigious parts of the bubble.

It poses some interesting problems, that did not exist when an MP had his wife as his secretary, a job she probably had before she married him.

Andrew Adonis

The is huge political corruption at the heart of this government, from multi-billion test & trace & PPE contracts & directorships awarded to Tory donors through to Robert Jenrick treating the planning & regeneration department as a Tory slush fund

Time for a reckoning

M0nica

It is a bit of a problem isn't it these days, many women have high powered careers and, despite online dating, tend to meet and match with people in their work/social circle, so you are going to have these problems, especially in bubble worlds like Parliament, where husband and wife are in senior positions in closely contigious parts of the bubble.

It poses some interesting problems, that did not exist when an MP had his wife as his secretary, a job she probably had before she married him.

As far as I can see, MOnica, this is completely irrelevant to the subject of the thread.

Or do you think that wives of MPs being handed high powered jobs without the necessary expertise and without any competition (i.e. Job application and interview, like most job vacancies are filled) is perfectly OK because... well, because they're married to an MP?

You're very quick to tell us what we're doing wrong but surprisingly tolerant of corruption, it seems...

The whole thing is just disgusting and needs challenging by those in parliament and by the media and by people like us writing to our MPs and keeping up the pressure when nothing happens. It's our money that is being spent and wasted in some cases on these friends of MPs. These suspect contracts and jobs should have been given to firms/people with a proven track record and not because they know people with power to bypass 'due process' as someone said on here some weeks ago.

Johnson and Hancock face court for putting their chums in big jobs they can’t do
Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock are being taken to court for bypassing normal tendering procedures in order to give important public sector roles to their personal friends.

NEW: The PM & Matt Hancock are being sued for giving top-ranking Tories key Test and Trace jobs without advertising roles. They've been given notice of legal proceedings by @RunnymedeTrust & @GoodLawProject for alleged cronyism over "jobs for pals" row. t.co/qw0b4mGCyU

Since the current Government brought in ‘emergency powers’ for procurement and abandoned the existing procurement procedures, it has been a ‘free for all’.

My view is that it’s corruption, plain and simple and they are all morally bankrupt.
I don’t know how it can be challenged or stopped.

Nortsat

Since the current Government brought in ‘emergency powers’ for procurement and abandoned the existing procurement procedures, it has been a ‘free for all’.

My view is that it’s corruption, plain and simple and they are all morally bankrupt.
I don’t know how it can be challenged or stopped.

Have a look at Good Law Project. Grany provided a link above your post. It's crowd funded, so donate something to them.

Spread the word about it...

M0nica

All contracts like this should have to be advertised on a properly supervised government website, so that anyone caan see them and tender or make an application for inclusion.

Not sure if you are aware of the correct contracting procedures under European Directives.

Public procurement contracts over a certain value (currently I think around £160,000 + VAT for the lowest tier of contracts) have to be advertised in the European Journal and also input into TED (Tenders Electronic Daily), Failure to do this is illegal procurement and such persons involved can be prosecuted and can be imprisoned.

Such contracts have to follow a very restrictive procedure and can take many months, even years before the contract is signed.

Having said that the Government overuled these clauses with their emergency powers and quite rightly at the time otherwise we would not have any safety equipment until sometime next year.

Where it has gone wrong is that there was not a robust procedure put in place to ensure value for money and ultimately (Public Health England Procurement have a lot of say in this). Parliament has been noticably quiet on the emergency procedures and all within those walls should hang their heads in shame for not ensuring there was a belt and braces procedure for emergency procurement.

If you have a look at Good Law project, prestbury, I think you'll find that some of the untendered for contracts are outside the remit of the coronavirus emergency powers.

It has been extremely well publicised that firms with experience of PPE manufacturing and provision have been completely side lined in favour of firms with absolutely no relevant experience and very often with very little capital. Keir Starmer has just highlighted the case of the firm paid £150 million to supply facemasks but not a single useable face mask has been delivered. The ones they did procure were not fit for purpose.

Parliament has been noticably quiet on the emergency procedures and all within those walls should hang their heads in shame for not ensuring there was a belt and braces procedure for emergency procurement.

What on earth do you expect of a party with a parliamentary majority of 80 MPs, chosen solely for their loyalty to Brexit, who actually voted away their right to scrutiny in the Internal Market Bill...

We no longer have Parliamentary sovereignty. We have a kleptocracy...