Labour says government refusal to publish PPE firm’s contracts ‘reeks of cover-up’

theguardian.com:

Labour has accused ministers of a potential cover-up over a PPE contract with a company linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone, after the health department refused to release documents connected to the deal, citing commercial sensitivities.

The row comes days after the National Crime Agency (NCA) searched Mone’s home as part of a potential fraud investigation into the company, PPE Medpro, which won more than £200m in government contracts without public tender.

Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, wrote to the government in January to seek the release of correspondence and records connected to the deal, as happened over a testing contract won by another company, Randox, after lobbying by the then Tory MP Owen Paterson.

In the letter, Rayner noted that Medpro won the two contracts via a “VIP lane” for politically connected companies after Mone contacted two ministers in May 2020 to say she could source PPE.

“I would ask now that the government takes the same approach as it has to the contract with Randox, which was a similar matter of controversy, and commits now to place all correspondence and records relating to the award in the library of the house [of Commons] for parliamentary scrutiny,” Rayner wrote.

In a reply sent last week, the junior health minister Edward Argar defended the efforts made to buy medical protective supplies at the start of the Covid pandemic, saying the alternative was “not securing the PPE that was desperately needed; clearly not an option”.

“All offers underwent rigorous financial, commercial, legal and policy assessments,” Argar said, adding that decisions were made by officials, with no evidence ministers were involved, and that “due diligence checks were appropriate given the circumstances”.

He added: