Thread by @JolyonMaugham

So, there has been a great deal of focus on the £122m of gowns sold by PPE Medpro. They were purchased for only £46m and never used by the NHS. 🧵

But PPE Medpro also sold us on 30 May 2020 IIR facemasks for £81m some of which were manufactured by a company called Hunan Eexi.

Both the date (30 May) and the manufacturer (Hunan Eexi) were important. The date, which can be seen from published documents, is important because PPE prices were fluctuating (although were much more stable by late May). I have unpublished spreadsheets showing the manufacturer.

I can also see from those spreadsheets the unpublished per unit prices we bought the IIR facemasks manufactured by Hunan Eexi for from PPE Medpro: 38.5p each.

I can also see that several weeks later, on 17 May 2020, we bought IIR facemasks, again from Hunan Eexi, from Brandology for only 14.5p per unit. (The manufacturer and per unit price come from my spreadsheet.) This is less than half of the 38.5p per unit price we paid PPE Medpro

And I can also see that four days earlier, on 26 May, we bought IIR facemasks, again manufactured by Hunan Eexi, from Blueleaf for only 20.1p each. (The contract value published by DHSC is wrong, and the manufacturer and per unit price come from my spreadsheet.)

None of this is denied by DHSC - the allegations have been put to it - but in short you and I paid PPE Medpro for IIR facemasks made by Hunan Eexi around double the price we bought them for from other suppliers just days before and just days after.

We know from a Sunday Times report that PPE Medpro is being investigated for possible bribery, although we don't know who they bribed.

We also know that Ministers - Matt Hancock and Michael Gove - are briefing newspapers that (precious darlings) they were bullied by Michelle Mone into awarding PPE Medpro contracts either at staggering mark-ups,(gowns) or at double the prices we were paying others (facemasks).

Who knows how the story ends. But it is a very peculiar line for Hancock and Gove to take in the context of apparent criminal bribery investigations: that they were bullied into giving her £200m of public money. Really?