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Home Secretary Priti Patel accused of "flagrant breach" of ministerial code over £20m PPE lobbying


Priti Patel was accused last night of a 'glaring and flagrant' breach of the Ministerial Code after she lobbied a fellow minister on behalf of a healthcare firm trying to seal a £20million deal for PPE.


Labour demanded an inquiry by Cabinet Secretary Simon Case.


It comes just months after Boris Johnson allowed the Home Secretary to keep her job despite an earlier finding that she broke the code by bullying staff.


Dominic Grieve, the former Tory attorney general, said: 'This is quite astonishing. This Government seems to have no idea of the basics of propriety in procurement.'


A Daily Mail investigation revealed:

  • Miss Patel lobbied Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove in April last year over a £20million contract for surgical masks for Pharmaceuticals Direct Ltd (PDL) after an approach from her former adviser Samir Jassal;

  • Her efforts failed after Health Secretary Matt Hancock decided the masks were 'not suitable for the NHS';

  • Weeks later the firm was awarded a no-bid, no-competition deal worth £102.6million to supply a better type of mask;

  • The Home Secretary made no declaration about Mr Jassal's approach, or mention his links to PDL;

  • Mr Jassal, a two-time parliamentary candidate and Tory councillor in Kent, played a key role in negotiating the more lucrative deal, with the masks priced at almost twice the Government's 'benchmark' rate;

  • That deal is now being challenged at a High Court judicial review brought by the Good Law Project and the Home Secretary's role is certain to feature.

Miss Patel insists she did nothing wrong. Her spokesman said: 'The Home Secretary rightly followed up representations made to her about the vital supply of PPE.


'During a time of national crisis failure to do so would have been a dereliction of duty.'


But Labour's letter to Mr Case, signed by deputy leader Angela Rayner and Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds, said: 'It is difficult to reach any conclusion other than that the Home Secretary lobbied the Government on behalf of PDL as a favour to her friend, Samir Jassal.



Mr Jassal has often been seen with other senior Conservatives including Boris Johnson and his predecessors Theresa May and David Cameron




Credit: Read more from dailymail.co.uk





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