Carol Vorderman: The PPE scandal must be at the heart of the general election

The Tories want to move on from the debacle over their unlawful VIP lane. We must hold them to account at the ballot box.

How we’ve laid the foundations for billions to be clawed back from the PPE scandal

What we’ve spent years doggedly uncovering about the government’s dodgy deals and cronyism during the pandemic has now paved the way for the appointment of a covid corruption commissioner.

The Tories’ last-ditch attempt to silence us on the PPE scandal

The government is bringing legal proceedings against Good Law Project to stop it publishing an explosive new PPE story.

Last week we asked the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) – and the company in question – to respond to a story we proposed to publish about astonishing undertakings given to secure a lucrative and controversial VIP contract.

The story emerged from minutes of the Covid Clearance Board – the body which approved new PPE deals during the course of the pandemic. An organisation working with Good Law Project lawfully obtained a redacted copy of those minutes. But those redactions had been botched and could be undone to uncover an extraordinary revelation – one we think you ought to know.

DHSC replied to our request for a comment with a formal letter before action headed: “Proposed Urgent Injunctive Relief” and said, unequivocally, that “if you indicate that your intention is to publish such information, we intend to seek an urgent interim injunction to prevent publication.” It asked us to make a variety of further promises including that we would “delete the incorrectly-redacted FOIA Response” and tell them who we shared the story with.

We agreed to tell them if we planned to publish the story – but we refused to give them the broader undertakings they sought. Late on Monday, we told them we would publish at 12 noon on Wednesday 3 July. We have instructed a law firm and Counsel to act for us in those proceedings. We expect that defending the injunction will cost around £50,000 – including costs if the government succeeds.

The PPE scandal is far from over

The Tory VIP lane was a high road to cronyism, says Henry Marsh.

Government PPE staff racing to cancel and delay excess orders

LEAKED: The Conservative politicians who referred companies to the PPE ‘VIP lane’

Windrush scandal

Revealed: Government bullied safety watchdog over PPE supplied by ‘VIPs’

Lobbying scandal

REVEALED: Secret meeting between firm chaired by Government’s PPE Tsar and UK minister to discuss PPE deals

Patel, Mirza and the Middlemen

EXCLUSIVE: Six more VIP-lane companies revealed

PPE to go up in smoke – literally – as the bill for waste tops £10 billion

The Government must end the building safety scandal for good

REVEALED: Government wasted £437 million of your money on unusable PPE from just three VIP suppliers

PPE masks not fit for purpose