London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Labour: Ministers must reveal Covid contract links

Labour: Ministers must reveal Covid contract links

Labour is calling for ministers to publish all contacts and links they have with firms awarded government contracts during the Covid crisis.

In March 2020, emergency measures let the government speed up buying things like PPE and ventilators by directly awarding contracts rather than tenders.

But since then, ministers have faced accusations of offering a "VIP fast-track" to the contracts for friends.

The government said "due diligence is carried out on every contract".

The call comes as a lobbying row continues to surround Westminster, following revelations that former prime minister David Cameron texted ministers on behalf of a firm he worked for - Greensill Capital - during the crisis.

Last week, the BBC also revealed that businessman Sir James Dyson directly texted Boris Johnson about tax issues during the pandemic, which the PM then said he would "fix".

In the months following coronavirus hitting the UK in 2020, the government awarded thousands of contracts to private companies, spending billions of pounds of public money in the process.

They covered everything from masks, gowns and gloves, to services such as researching public opinion about the government's Covid measures.

But rather than going through the usual competitive tendering process for such contracts - which can take months or even years - the government was allowed to go directly to a preferred supplier without any competition, speeding up the process.

Since then, questions have arisen over the decisions made by government, with accusations from Labour of "cronyism" and investigations by the BBC and others showing links between some of the firms and Whitehall.

A case is also going through the High Court - brought forward by the Good Law Project - arguing that several of these deals were handled as part of a so-called VIP lane, reserved for leads endorsed by government officials or politicians.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: "We have been dealing with an unprecedented global pandemic and our approach throughout has been to act quickly to save lives, and we make no apology for that."

While the government had to award contracts at speed, "due diligence is carried out on every contract" and "ministers have no role in awarding them", the spokesman said.

Number 10 said it is committed to transparency in procurement and notices of contracts awarded are published online.

'Spread of sleaze'


Labour is now calling for all ministers to publish any communications they had with their business contacts or links who were awarded contracts over the pandemic under the emergency rules - as well as details of any firms who were part of the "VIP fast track".

Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Rachel Reeves, has written to her government counterpart, Michael Gove, saying there is "a growing impression that there is one set of rules for ministers and their close friends, and another for the rest of the British public".

As well as details on ministers and their contacts, she asked Mr Gove when the prime minister would share his own messages with Mr Dyson and other business leaders - which he pledged to do last week - and when a new independent advisor for ministerial standards would be appointed, following the resignation of Sir Alex Allan in November 2020.

In a statement, Ms Reeves added that there was an "increasing spread of Tory sleaze" creating "increasingly serious questions for government".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
×