Russell Scott

The Sheer Scale of the COVID ‘VIP Lane’ PPE Scandal Has Still Not Been Revealed Five Years On
New evidence published by the COVID Inquiry suggests that at least 20 more politically-connected suppliers received contracts worth £1 billion

Matt Hancock Intervened to Help Conservative Donor’s Pizza Firm Land Lucrative Covid PPE Contract
Two days before winning the contract, the company, which had no previous experience of supplying medical equipment, removed ‘pizza’ from its name

Woman Arrested in Fraud Investigation Linked to £25m ‘VIP’ Covid PPE Deal Referred by Conservative Minister
The director of the company awarded a multimillion pound Government contract was arrested on suspicion of fraud, conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and fraudulent evasion of income tax

​​Matt Hancock Used His Personal Email Account to Help ‘VIP’ Supplier Win £25 Million COVID PPE Contract
Excalibur Healthcare, which supplied the UK Government with tens of millions of pounds worth of unusable PPE, ultimately folded owing taxpayers £22 million

Civil Servants Felt Pressured Into Giving ‘Special Treatment’ to Conservative-Connected COVID PPE Suppliers
Private correspondence reveals officials felt threatened by firms benefiting from “back-scratching” by Conservative ministers

Conservative Peer Helped Firm He Held Shares in Land £58 Million Covid PPE Contract
Newly-released documents reveal the peer also helped a “generous and loyal supporter” of the Conservative party secure another £93 million PPE contract

Cabinet Office Misled the Public Over Michael Gove’s Involvement with VIP Lane’s Biggest Winner
Unispace Global were awarded £679 million in PPE deals from the government after the company’s offer “came through” Cabinet Minister Michael Gove – contradicting the then-Government’s claims of no involvement

Conservative Peer Lord Feldman Helped ‘Good Friend’ of Michael Gove Win VIP PPE Deal
Documents released by the Covid Inquiry reveal a network of connections between senior ministers, advisers and those handed lucrative Covid contracts

Conservative Fixer Lord Feldman Lobbied Boris Johnson to Push Through Dyson’s Ventilator Contract
Private messages between Boris Johnson and his team reveal they were “on a mission” to secure the contract with leading Brexiteer James Dyson

Michael Gove Told Officials to Buy 10,000 Ventilators From Dyson During Pandemic in ‘Affront’ to Procurement Rules
Evidence published by the Covid Inquiry reveals that the Conservative Minister was “insistent that an order” was placed with leading Brexiter Sir James Dyson’s firm

Nigel Farage’s US Trip to Meet Elon Musk Was Partly Funded by a Convicted Felon
The Reform UK leader also accepted £91,000 for four hours work as a “brand ambassador” for a Mayfair-based gold bullion firm

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Rishi Sunak, who previously promised a new era of “accountability” and insisted that “transparency is really important for the heal...

Byline Times is an independent, reader-funded investigative newspaper, outside of the system of the established press, reporting on ‘what the papers don’t say’ – without fear or favour.
To support its work, subscribe to the monthly Byline Times print edition, packed with exclusive investigations, news, and analysis.
Help us build the better media Britain deserves
The PPE scandal shows no sign of ending after it was revealed this week that over one million pallets laden with unusable Covid pro...

Byline Times is an independent, reader-funded investigative newspaper, outside of the system of the established press, reporting on ‘what the papers don’t say’ – without fear or favour.
To support its work, subscribe to the monthly Byline Times print edition, packed with exclusive investigations, news, and analysis.
Help us build the better media Britain deserves
Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick’s campaign funding is under renewed scrutiny today after Byline Times revealed tha...

Exclusive: Rishi Sunak’s team helped fast-track deal with firm founded by Charles Huang, who says contracts generated $2bn profit