Cashing In On Covid: The Putrid Stench Of Conservative Corruption

Barely a day goes by without hearing or reading about the latest multi-million Pound Covid-19 related contract being gifted to a Tory donor, or one of Dominic Cummings friends from the Vote Leave cabal, and they’re usually awarded without any tendering process, in the name of Covid. 

In short, the government have the power to dish out huge contracts, without real scrutiny, to the benefit of their pals. The coronavirus crisis has provided the government with the opportunity to use emergency laws as a cover for handing out unimaginable amounts of money to their friends. That’s YOUR money.

Nice work if you can get it. 

This is blatant corruption, happening right under our noses. Hundreds of millions is being siphoned out of the public purse, by the elite, and at the same time, nurses are having to take to the streets to demand a pay rise. The same nurses that the occasional Prime Minister would clap for every Thursday night. The same nurses that were promised the world, and got precisely nothing, yet again. The same nurses that died in their HUNDREDS to protect people just like you, me, and that fucking embarrassment of a Prime Minister. 

So this blatant corruption needs to go mainstream. You’ll find the coverage from the Guardian hasn’t actually been that bad. They’ve exposed a fair number of dodgy deals. Sadly, this doesn’t make up for their betrayal of the left, or their questionable tax arrangements. Independent media has been miles ahead. Byline, Skwawkbox, The Canary, Voice Britannia, and Open Democracy contributors have been leading the way. 

It’s almost as if independent media isn’t controlled by billionaire tax avoiding media moguls who detest the idea of socialism, while ensuring they’re always at the front of the queue when it comes to benefiting from corporate socialism. 

Now, I could list of multiple examples of this blatant Conservative corruption, but they are already out there, and we would all be here for most of the day. So let’s take a look at just a few, and see just how the Conservatives are cashing in on Covid. 

TOPHAM GUERIN - They were the political communications company behind the Conservative party’s controversial 2019 digital campaign strategy, and specialise in working for right-wing parties. They orchestrated two Tory election campaign stunts - remember “factCheckUK”? - that was when they renamed the official Conservative party Twitter account during the televised leaders debate, and they also set up a website presented as Labour’s manifesto, which was fake. Both stunts received widespread criticism, and rightfully so. This was clear deception and took campaigning standards to a new low.

So Topham Guerin received a £3m government contract to work on ‘Covid-19 messaging’, without a competitive tender, and they’re currently negotiating with the Cabinet Office for another slice of the pie. 

P14 MEDICAL - P14 were awarded contracts to supply face shields worth £120 million. Steve Dechan, the director of P14 Medical, is a Conservative councillor on Stroud Town Council and campaigned for the local MP Siobhan Baillie at the 2019 election.

The company, a specialist in pain management technologies, was handed the contracts despite recording significant losses in 2019. The company has £5,234 of tangible assets, £145 cash and 8 employees. 

The company’s ties to the Conservative Party seem to be stronger than their experience in delivering on the supply of PPE.

Once again, no competitive tendering. Kerching. 

RANDOX - £133 million worth has gone their way. They have employed Owen Patterson, a former Conservative cabinet minister, as a consultant (lobbyist) since 2015. He is currently paid £100,000 a year at the rate of £500 an hour. Under its contract, Randox has been paid to carry out tests, both posted to individuals at home and administered at testing centres, as part of Matt Hancock’s failed pledge to reach the target of 100,000 tests a day. 

Care homes and members of the public were told to "quarantine and return" as many as 741,000 Randox test kits after they failed to provide the necessary safety documentation. 

Randox have also made a few small donations to the Conservative Party, such as...

2010: £18,000

2011: £37,200

2012: £22,000

2013: £13,900

2014: £13,500

2015: £20,000

2016: £18,000

2017: £8,000

2018: £10,000

The £133 million contract was awarded without any other firms getting the chance to bid. 

UNISPACE GLOBAL HEALTH - The Tories handed £240 million to a firm run by leading members of a secretive, hardline, conservative religious sect known as the Exclusive Brethren. They view the outside world as morally corrupting and don’t have things like a TV in their homes. What they point their furniture at is anyone’s guess. 

Any hope of this contract going out to tender, so the taxpayer gets the best value for money? Not a fucking chance.

Then you get companies such as - 

PESTFIX - yes, a pest control company, with 16 staff and net assets of £19,000, was given a government contract in early April, worth £108 million to secure gowns and face masks for the NHS.

Why would you hand over £108 million to rat catchers? 

AYANDA CAPITAL - The London-based family office landed a whopping £252 million contract to supply PPE. They are owned through a Mauritius-based holding company. 

Their website states that they specialise in ‘currency trading, offshore property, private equity and trade financing’. 

Ideal for supplying PPE? Would you go to the chemist to buy a car? Would you go to the chippy to buy a duvet? They must think we’re stupid.

This is all happening right now. The friends and donors of the Conservative Party are cleaning out the public purse at an alarming pace, with little to zero accountability. 

The National Audit Office is running its own inquiry into the handling of lucrative PPE contracts at the height of the Coronavirus crisis. We are talking around £1.7 billion worth of contracts, most without any form of tendering. 

Do you think the NAO are going to slaughter the Tories? Probably not. You’ll be told about “learning the lessons” and “greater transparency”, but I wouldn’t expect much. The establishment will look after their own.

The public is being absolutely shafted. The rich will continue to get richer throughout this pandemic, and the poor, already battered from 10 years of unnecessary austerity, will pick up the tab. That’s how they roll.

Every time these despicable swines hand over another huge contract to one of their mates, without a simple tendering process, without any due diligence, it will be called out for what it is. 

The only problem? Is anyone actually listening, or are we now at a point where we accept their blatant corruption in the same way we have allowed them to normalise their catastrophic failures? 

It’s not just the government we need to change, it’s also people’s way of thinking. This won’t be done overnight, but it doesn’t mean we can’t. 

Until next time. 

Rachael

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