Whether it’s the chumocracy or just incompetence, ‘we’re getting on with the job’ is the government’s cover for all its sins
It’s hard to keep up. Barely a year into this government’s tenure, and Conservative chumocracy violations, accelerated by the pandemic – indeed, under the cover of the pandemic – are claimed on an almost weekly basis. The figures are staggering. So far, it is estimated that the government, without a transparent tendering process, handed out £18bn in coronavirus-related contracts during the first six months of the pandemic alone. Of this, £1.5bn can be traced to companies or individuals with connections to the Conservative party.
Within those billions there is more shocking detail. A spider’s web of unqualified Tory donors, university friends, neighbours and local pub owners has been entrusted with everything from the provision of PPE to the manufacturing of medical equipment. The tendering process seems to have been jettisoned for random phone calls and texts from opportunists, with ministers too lazy to go through due process and too arrogant to care. They say political parties campaign in poetry and govern in prose. This Conservative government campaigned in slogans and governs in WhatsApp messages.
