By Monday afternoon, Boris Johnson was starting to feel the heat as more lines from Cameron and Greensill lobbying and sleaze were drawn to ministers in his government.
So he announced a review - one that looked very much like a cover up.
The government selected Nigel Boardman to run the review. You can see why when he
➡️Was paid £20k/year as non-exec director at BEIS
➡️Whitewashed govt’s pandemic procurement
➡️Works for a law firm that made £8m from Carillion
➡️Was given a role at the British Museum by Cameron
It's no surprise the Tories don’t want to tackle the real scandals of commercial lobbying.
Instead they have been far more interested in gagging charities and trade unions representing working people rather than regulating commercial interests.
One of the real world consequences of Greensill’s collapse is thousands of jobs at risk in the UK’s steel communities, from Hartlepool to Stocksbridge.
But instead of coming to Parliament to answer @AnnelieseDodds, Rishi Sunak was nowhere to be seen.
On Wednesday afternoon Labour called on all MPs to vote with Labour - to uncover the scandal with a proper, parliamentary inquiry with public hearings.
Since that vote, we've seen story after story come out.
There’s been stories of a senior Cabinet Office figure advising Greensill, about ACOBA - and now about the lobbying interests of Boris Johnson’s closest advisers.
The web of sleaze keeps leading directly into Number 10.
It is welcome that a number of Select Committees will now look closer at this scandal. But this isn't enough and it isn’t the end of this.
Because this is much, much bigger than Greensill and David Cameron.
It's about a government that chooses to cover up the truth instead of addressing it, that believes in one set of rules for themselves, and another for everyone else.
Over the last year, we've seen a growing catalogue of Tory cronyism and waste.
With jobs in the balance and huge sums of taxpayer money spent, today’s @thesundaytimes investigation on Greensill underlines again why this must stop.
Here’s what's unfolded this week - a thread.⬇️
The more we scratch under the surface of Greensill, the more worrying it becomes.
We need a thorough investigation into how Cameron lobbied for Greensill, and what role government played in such a hugely irresponsible company getting so much access. theguardian.com/politics/2021/…
Then there’s the luxury refurb of the Prime Minister’s flats at No.10 Downing Street, where questions continue to amass but answers seem in short supply.
@SarahOwen_ wrote to the Cabinet Secretary with some of the questions this week - the list is long.
The news about Serco today will outrage taxpayers.
Its their money - meant to fund a contact tracing system which has never been up to scratch - that is now instead being paid to Serco shareholders via dividends. 1/6 ft.com/content/0dca97…
This is also the company, who said in a leaked letter, that Covid was an opportunity for them to cement themselves into our NHS supply chain. 2/6 theguardian.com/society/2020/j…
This whole saga is typical of this government’s appalling waste during the pandemic.
They should have done with contract tracing as was with the vaccine - placed it in the hands of our NHS and local communities, instead of using it to hand huge profits to Serco. 3/6
What exactly happened with Public First yesterday, and revelations that both Dominic Cummings and Michael Gove were linked to a lucrative Covid contract awarded to them?
Discovering the truth of that has been months in the making. THREAD 🧵
In March, Public First won a contract for £840,000 - they ended up being paid around £500,000 - without tender or a written contract.
Both Gove & Cummings said they had nothing to do with the award, despite links with heads of Public First, including work on 2019 Tory Manifesto.
Then in May (around a month after Cummings made his infamous Barnard Castle trip), the contract was retrospectively awarded.
This is one of the troubling practices the National Audit Office highlighted in their report into pandemic procurement at the hands of this government.
👥This week in cronyism - and it's not off to a good start.
Sometimes I think this Tory govt imagines we'll all just stop noticing their catalogue of cronyism. They seem to have nothing to say in response.
Stories keep unfolding - Labour will keep holding them to account. 👇
Shocking news just days ago that Hancock's former neighbour won a Covid contract despite no prior experience in medical supplies. He sent a Whatsapp message to the Health Sec. in March asking for a contract.