London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 31, 2025

UK Health Secretary says it was ‘absolutely appropriate’ to help ex-minister secure £178mn PPE contract during pandemic shortage

UK Health Secretary says it was ‘absolutely appropriate’ to help ex-minister secure £178mn PPE contract during pandemic shortage

UK Secretary of State for Health Matt Hancock has denied any wrongdoing after a report claimed he assisted with a former minister's lobbying for government PPE contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Times reported on Sunday that Hancock helped a former minister for civil society, Brooks Newmark, secure a £178 million ($250 million) deal for personal protection equipment (PPE) after Newmark partnered with a dog food company owner to “broker PPE deals for international suppliers,” including a business in Hong Kong.

During an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr on Sunday, Hancock denied any wrongdoing through his involvement, arguing that the UK received millions of protective goggles in return.

After Marr asked Hancock whether it was “appropriate” to be involved in the procurement process with a former minister, the health secretary said, “Yes, it was absolutely appropriate for people to get in contact with anybody at the Department for Health when the country desperately needed PPE.”

“I sent this contact straight onto the PPE team and they looked at it. I didn't have anything to do with the award of contract,” Hancock declared, claiming he “just pinged it on.”


“In this case, we ended up with 90 million goggles for people in the NHS as a result of this approach,” he added.

Hancock insisted it was “not true” that people who personally know him, Prime Minister Boris Johnson or others in the government receive preferential treatment for contracts. “We saved lives on the frontline and at no point did we have a national outage of PPE and I'm incredibly proud of my team that pulled that off,” he said.

“But of course when somebody approaches the health secretary in the middle of a pandemic when you're desperately short of PPE, it's perfectly reasonable for the health secretary to then send on the email and say ‘can we have a look at this,’” he concluded.

Johnson’s government has repeatedly been accused of cronyism during the pandemic for awarding contracts to companies and individuals on friendly terms with its ministers.

Even former prime minister David Cameron was engulfed in a lobbying scandal this year, sparking an official investigation. Cameron has denied any wrongdoing and confirmed he will participate in the inquiry.

Cameron allegedly exploited his position as a past prime minister to hold secret meetings with ministers in a failed effort to get Greensill – a financial services company he was representing – added to the Corporate Covid Financing Facility scheme.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Shawbrook IPO Marks London’s Biggest UK Listing in Two Years
UK Government Split Over Backing Brazil’s $125 Billion Tropical Forest Fund Ahead of COP30
J.K. Rowling Condemns Glamour UK Feature of Nine Trans Women as 'Men Better at Being Women'
King Charles III Removes Prince Andrew’s Titles and Orders His Departure from Royal Lodge
UK Finance Minister Reeves Releases Email Correspondence to Clarify Rental-Licence Breach
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
×