UK Acted Unlawfully With "VIP" Covid Contract Lane, Court Rules
NDTV
Opposition politicians have accused the government of running a "chumocracy", awarding deals to those with family or business links to people in power, including for what turned out to be unusable PPE in some cases.
The British government acted unlawfully by setting up a fast-track "VIP lane" to allow ministers and officials to recommend suppliers of personal protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic, a London court ruled on Wednesday.
Opposition politicians have accused the government of running a "chumocracy", awarding deals to those with family or business links to people in power, including for what turned out to be unusable PPE in some cases.
The campaign groups, the Good Law Project and EveryDoctor, brought legal action claiming some suppliers were given an unfair advantage in obtaining contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
The contracts included one worth over 340 million pounds ($465 million) given to pest control firm PestFix and another worth 252 million pounds to the investment firm Ayanda Capital.
