• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Politics

Cummings in court as Good Law Project begins judicial review of Government Covid contracts

GLP say a focus group and support services contract was given to Public First because the PM’s then senior aide wanted the company to have it.

Jack Peat by Jack Peat
2021-02-15 15:01
in Politics
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

A former aide to Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told a judge that he did not ask for a company to be given a focus group and communications support services contract because bosses were his “friends”.

Dominic Cummings said he would “never do such a thing”.

He defended the award of the contract to Public First after a campaign group complained of “apparent bias” and took legal action.

The Good Law Project has begun a High Court fight with the Cabinet Office after complaining about the way the contract was awarded to a company with links to Dominic Cummings, following the start of the coronavirus crisis nearly a year ago.

Ministers are fighting the claim and Mr Cummings outlined the reasoning behind the contract award in a written witness statement, seen by Mrs Justice O’Farrell.

A barrister representing the Good Law Project on Monday told Mrs Justice O’Farrell that Public First was awarded the contract because Mr Cummings, then chief adviser to Mr Johnson, “wanted” Public First to have the contract.

Jason Coppel QC told the judge at a virtual High Court hearing that “no other provider was considered”.

RelatedPosts

Watch: Johnson struggles with imperial measures question in select committee

Tory MP sends no-confidence letter while sitting opposite Johnson at Liaison Committee

Chief whip tells Boris ‘game is up’ as 6 ministers quit in one go

PMQs: Dead parrot Johnson left with dotty Dorries, the horse whipster and the most boring psychopath ever 

He said more than £500,000 had been spent and told that the judge that it was “not strictly necessary” to award the contract to Public First without competition.

And we're off!

Our judicial review over the Government contract awarded to friends of Dominic Cummings at Public First without competition has begun.

You can now read the extraordinary skeleton arguments and witness statements on our website. ? https://t.co/XqItR8tprw

— Good Law Project (@GoodLawProject) February 15, 2021

“Entirely justified”

Mr Cummings said Britain had been facing an emergency because of the coronavirus crisis, and “the award of the contract without delay” was “entirely justified”.

“Obviously I did not request Public First be brought in because they were my friends,” said Mr Cummings.

“I would never do such a thing.”

Mr Cummings said he was Mr Johnson’s main political adviser from July 2019 until November 2020.

“Because of Covid in 2020, this role involved issues of management and procurement far more than it did political advice,” he said.

“A big part of my job was solving Whitehall problems — in particular trying to eliminate obstacles and to get the right people into the right roles and the right meetings.”

Mr Cummings said he was friends with people involved with Public First, including director James Frayne.

But he said he had not met Mr Frayne since 2016.

“Very few companies in this field are competent”

“James Frayne and I worked on the euro campaign 20 years ago, other political issues, and set up the campaign to fight the proposed formation of a regional assembly in north-east England in 2004,” he said.

“I have talked to them extensively about focus groups and public opinion over many years.

“I knew from my experience that Public First were very good at running focus groups and that its key staff had thought extensively about how people who usually ignore most news and political communication think and might be influenced.

“I knew that I could rely on them to make an extra effort, beyond what they were paid to do.

“I knew they would give us honest information unlike many companies in this sector.

“Very few companies in this field are competent – almost none are very competent, honest and reliable.”

He said he had “no involvement” in contractual arrangements with Public First “or their remuneration”.

Mr Cummings told the judge that the work done by Public First was “worth more than every penny spent”.

He added: “I was under the impression that, provided we were acting genuinely in light of an emergency, that the courts later on would understand that we could not spend weeks on procurement in the normal way when we had hours to act and save lives.”

Related: Tory MP ruthlessly mocks ‘Boris burrow’ plans connecting Scotland and N Ireland

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

How important is university? Nearly 60% of graduates feel they could have got their current job with a vocational qualification instead of a degree

Sturgeon rejects plot claim: ‘I never wanted to ‘get’ Alex Salmond’

US Midterms: Marginal gains with huge implications expected

Heathrow in talks with union to stop Tuesday’s strike

Traditional butchers become first in UK to sell plant-based meat alternatives

Theresa May awkwardly side steps party rows claiming No Deal Brexit “wouldn’t be the end of the world”

Brexit-backing Sun and Mail seen as having the most negative impact on society

How To Make: Banana Pecan Muffins

Film Review: The Nile Hilton Incident

Coronavirus death toll reaches grim milestone with no sign rate is slowing down

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.