This revelatory thread is from Jolyon Maugham of the Good Law Project:
“Remember the story of Matt Hancock and Alex Bourne, the publican turned medical equipmemt supplier, a photo of whose pub Mr Hancock kept on his office wall?
Well yesterday, Mr Hancock went on the attack. He said Alex Bourne “never got a contract from the Government” and that it was a “fabrication pushed by the Labour Party” and “a load of rubbish”.
Well, in a funny sort of way Hancock is telling the truth. If you look for contracts that Bourne’s company, Hinpack, won you won’t find any.
But in another sort of way, he isn’t telling the truth. And the truth is far, far worse.
Another company, called Alpha Laboratories, did win a contract with Matt Hancock’s Department.
And if you look at the Alpha Laboratories contract you will see it says this: Alpha Laboratories agrees to sub-contract the manufacturing of the Goods to an entity which we can’t know because it was blanked out before publishing.
But a small bird gave me a copy of the contract in its original form and it said this: the contract between the Government and Alpha Laboratories stipulated the manufacturing had to be by Alex Bourne’s Hinpack.
Of course, had a contract worth tens of millions been given directly by the Government to a Minister’s pal we would know (partly because @GoodLawProject successfully sued and forced Government to publish contracts).
So, instead, the Government gave the contract to their pal via Alpha Laboratories in such a way that you were supposed never to find out.
Except for the work done by the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/11/covid-test-kit-supplier-joked-matt-hancock-whatsapp-never-heard-of-him-alex-bourne?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other – oh, and that small bird.
Originally tweeted by Jo Maugham (@JolyonMaugham) on 01/12/2021.
And another:
“Hancock Cock Inn Cockup”
Yesterday, @MattHancock tried to get @AnnelieseDodds to withdraw a comment re his helping the ex-landlord of his local pub, the Cock Inn, to get a PPE contract
We’ve seen the emails
Hancock & Lord Feldman helped 47 firms win ‘VIP’ contracts worth millions
Yesterdya, @MattHancock went on the attack claiming Alex Bourne “never got a contract from the government” & this was a “fabrication pushed by the Labour Party”
He was lying
The National Audit Office found PPE suppliers with links to Tory MPs were 10x more likely to win contracts
Originally tweeted by Stefan Simanowitz (@StefSimanowitz) on 01/12/2021.
Watch Matt Hancock squirm on the Randox/Bethell/Paterson scandal:
Don’t forget: Matt Hancock resigned as health minister because he got caught on camera breaking social distancing rules (and how!)… not for favouring mates with our money!
