Money, data, the truth – you can’t trust the Tories with anything
This week the Government delivered their Autumn Statement.
For those who watched, like me, you would be forgiven for wondering just who has been in power for these last 13 years.
The truth is, this week the Tories showed us who they are with some news they’d rather you not read: research suggested that the Conservative Government has wasted or dubiously spent nearly £100billion of taxpayers’ money in just the last four years alone.
The scale of waste is truly shocking.
Calculated by Best for Britain, the money includes £140million on the botched Rwanda deal and £2.3billion on the scrapped parts of HS2. And a massive £15billion wasted on unused or unusable healthcare PPE during the pandemic – plus much more.
Incredibly, this amounts to £1,500 lost for every single person in the UK since the last election.
The scale of waste proves you cannot trust the Tories with your hard-earned money.
And it isn’t just any old wasted money. The cronyism, and I would argue, corruption, we have seen from this Government is off the scale. And I’m afraid it doesn’t end with Covid-related contracts.
Just last week, I raised a Point of Order in Parliament about a £11.5m contract that was handed to a company controlled by a Conservative donor, as reported by the Good Law Project, to supply schools with temporary accommodation following the RAAC scandal.
I wish I could say I’m shocked but, given the Government’s record, I am not.
It isn’t just the contracts, it is the lack of accountability too. I specifically asked for the name of the companies they had contracted to provide temporary accommodation, the Government failed to answer my direct question with a direct answer.
It is vital the correct processes for procurement are always followed.
But given the sheer number of contracts that are handed to people and companies linked to the Tories, I can’t help but be highly sceptical that this process is being followed in all cases.
Whether it was reports of Gillian Keegan’s government department giving £1m from a rebuilding fund to a firm linked to her husband, Rishi Sunak ‘inadvertently’ breaking the ministerial code by failing to properly declare his wife’s shareholding in a childcare company that could benefit from a government pilot scheme, I have called it out every step of the way.
And we cannot forget the ‘VIP lane’ allowing those with contacts at the top of government to skip the queue to secure lucrative contracts during the pandemic. Nor should we forget the £21billion lost in fraud since the covid pandemic.
Next time the Government suggests it doesn’t have resources to fully support struggling families, just remind them of the £100billion of our public money they have wasted or lost in recent years.
I also remain concerned about the long-term lucrative contract handed to Palantir, owned by a Donald Trump supporting billionaire, reportedly without a proper tender process, to manage our highly sensitive NHS data.
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Executive Chairman of Iceland Foods, Richard Walker, explains why his family's company are ditching their Christmas advert this year to help their customers.
Joy Munns' parents Mavis and Dennis were married for 60 years and very much in love, but when they both tried to kill themselves following Dennis's terminal diagnosis, Mavis was put on trial for his murder.
And finally, an anonymous bridesmaid recounts being subjected to constant demands by her bridezilla friend. She was left ghosted and with massive bills to pay.
Let’s not forget that the most valuable commodity is our personal data.
I raised the issue of Palantir at the Science and Technology evidence session to highlight that the company, which has been associated with Rishi Sunak’s campaign chief, and faces many human rights concerns – had seemingly become embedded in the government. Worryingly, we have now been made aware that they have been given an over £300m government contract.
For me, it is no coincidence that under this rotten Tory Government, the UK has plunged seven places to its lowest-ever position in Transparency International’s global corruption perceptions index.
When the government wants to force disabled people to look for work or risk losing benefits, keep reminding them of these tens of billions of pounds, or the crony contacts.
It is time to fight back, this narrative of working hard and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps just doesn’t ring true, and the government wants people to fight amongst themselves while they look after the top one percent.
We can’t trust the Tories with our money, and certainly not with our data either.
In the run up to the next General Election, when the Tories are expected to be punished following many years of failure, we must remain vigilant about their misuse of public funds.
So, when it comes to the Tories, if you find yourselves confused or feeling deceived by their actions, just remember: with this Government you have to follow the money.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk.
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