To get to reality (if you can cope with it) then the independent media does it. Exposing corruption, the wasting of tax payers money and the destruction of democracy is a daily habit for us.
Our habit is exposing it for our readers. Mucky and sometimes scary but someone has to do it.
Here The Byline Times has come up trumps again in the pursuit of truth.
In the early weeks of the Coronavirus pandemic, staring at a stockpile their former Conservative colleagues in Downing Street had steadily depleted, the Government faced a daily crisis to find enough personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS staff.
So, officials embarked on one of the most sudden and expensive outsourcing campaigns ever. It has been estimated that £5 billion was handed to private firms in a desperate attempt to feed the frontline with gowns, masks and gloves.
The contracts were awarded without competition – using an EU loophole that allows for streamlined procurement in the event of an emergency – and the full details have yet to be revealed.
Yet, even despite the Government’s reluctance to divulge its receipts, we still know that several of the contracts came up short. For example, a £250 million deal brokered by a Government advisor has reportedly yet to deliver a single mask that can be used in the NHS. Over half of the masks simply aren’t fit for use, due to the ear fastenings not meeting safety standards, while the remaining masks were undergoing further safety tests earlier this month.
In the past week, Byline Times has revealed two more contracts worthy of scrutiny. The first, an £8.4 million agreement to supply hand sanitiser, was awarded to a dormant firm that doesn’t appear to have traded since it was formed in 2016.
A group of MPs has now launched a lawsuit, trying to force the Government to reveal the full details of these contracts. One of the MPs who has been leading the charge over this issue, Dawn Butler, told Byline Times: “The full extent of this scandal must be brought to light, with full details published of all contracts, so this does not happen again. We all deserve to know how our public money is spent.”
