Again and again I am told 'we dare not challenge Government because it will punish us'. This climate of fear it has created, to avoid challenge. It now (1) argues we cannot challenge it either and (2) makes at all to defend the lawfulness of its actions. goodlawproject.org/news/above-the…
If businesses, because they fear commercial reprisals, will not come forward, and @GoodLawProject (and by necessary logical extensionall other public interest actors) cannot litigate to protect the public purse against croney-ism, then we are *entirely* without legal safeguard.
Cummings/Gove offer no defence to the charge of croney-ism. They just say we cannot challenge their actions. They say that of the £840,000 they spent with their long time associates and the billions they have spent on PPE with eg confectioners, pest controllers and family funds.
This issue - on who has 'standing' to challenge the passing of lucrative contracts by those in power to their associates - is an issue that will dominate the post-Brexit world. Because such safeguards as exist - safeguards Cummings has said he hates - come from EU law.
We know, and sorry to say it so frankly but it is true, how gutless most of business is. We watched it shy away from challenging the lies told by Government in the aftermath of 2016, prioritising its short term interests over its long term interests, and those of the nation.
What this means is that, aside from civil society, there is no one left to stem the tide of croney-ism. Government has warned business off. And it now says civil society cannot perform that function either.
If we lose on this issue - I do not think we will but we could - it will mean the public coffers are unguarded. It is hardly an exaggeration to say they will be free to dole out lucrative contracts to their pals without legal risk. This is an important moment.
