As the Covid Inquiry slams Boris Johnson's Government's ‘too little, too late’ response to Covid, Russell Scott looks at the Conservative peers who are implicated in the UK's disastrous response

Report from inquiry’s second module also says Johnson as PM ‘at times actively encouraged’ chaotic culture

Report on handling of pandemic contains stinging criticism of ‘toxic and chaotic’ culture inside Boris Johnson’s No 10

Bafta-winning director among contemporaries urging contrition and apology from Reform UK leader, who denies the allegations

Gove claims he had no “active role” in the procurement of Covid PPE during the pandemic, yet evidence suggests he was involved in multiple VIP deals worth over £1billion, reports Russell Scott

Special report: Uniserve was paid £1.4bn for Covid contracts that included supply of £178.5m in never-used equipment When Mrs Justice Cockerill handed down her judgment in the high court against PPE Medpro, the company linked to the Conservative peer Michelle Mone, for supplying unsafe personal protective equipment during the pandemic, her findings were a landmark in a five-year saga that cast the opaque world of government deal making into stark light. PPE Medpro was ordered to refund the full £122m that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) paid for unusable gowns in the summer of 2020, as Boris Johnson’s government scrambled to refill the UK’s depleted stocks. Continue reading...

Special report: Uniserve was paid £1.4bn for Covid contracts that included supply of £178.5m in never-used equipment

Russell Scott’s unparalleled reporting on COVID cronyism just got him shortlisted for the 2025 British Journalism Awards. Get Scott’s full scoop in ‘VIP Lane.’