Thread by @OwenThompson

For those wondering why we need my #CronyBill...
The UK’s Covid response seems to have been run not by those with expertise, but those with personal connections to top Tories – a chumocracy at work. Thread 👇🏻

The gov’s fast-tracked procurement process has allowed 10% of suppliers referred by a political contact to succeed, as opposed to 1% for others. My Bill would require ministers to declare these interests & help prevent some of the farces below:

One company was handed £108m to provide the NHS with gowns – which were then rejected for their quality. This company’s expertise? Apparently none – it was a vermin control company worth only £19,000.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-548977…

And guess who £30m for supplying vials for Covid tests went to? I bet you can’t, because the answer is incomprehensible – the pub landlord at Matt Hancock's old local, who reportedly originally got in touch with the Health Sec over Whatsapp.

theguardian.com/world/2020/nov…

A small loss-making firm was handed a £156m contract to import PPE from China without any competition. And running the firm? An ex Tory Councillor in Stroud.

opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-…

Another company that has received over £1m in contracts – including £46k for less than a month’s work – happens to be run by an old friend of Cummings and a co-writer of the 2019 Tory manifesto and former advisor to Michael Gove.

opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-…

Some of the contract awards look so absurd they’re almost funny, but the consequences are deadly serious – taxpayer money being funnelled into millionaire’s pockets, and poorer quality gear going to our frontline workers.

Dormant, loss-making, and brand-new companies have sprung into life to soak up millions of taxpayer money, sometimes with disastrous outcomes. This looks like a misuse of public money on the scale of the 2009 expenses scandal.

If the gov has nothing to hide, it has nothing to fear from my Bill - which has received much cross party support. It’s a cheap and easy step to help end a culture of waste cronyism and nepotism, and restore trust in government processes. #CronyBill #Cronyism