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The government should be investigated after again blowing millions of pounds of public cash on PPE that didn’t work,
Labour has urged.
It comes after the revelation that 50m face masks, bought as part of a £252m contract with Ayanda Capital – a
London firm that specialises in “currency trading, offshore property, private equity and trade financing – proved essentially useless to health workers.
Ayanda insists the masks from
China, which use ear-loop fastenings rather than head loops, meet specifications, but a government safety probe found they may not fit tightly enough.
The safety ruling was disclosed in a legal response to the Good Law Project.
It follows a series of other failed PPE deals during the
Coronavirus pandemic and demands for the National Audit Office (NAO) to intervene are growing.
“The face fit is either a pass or a fail and there are more fails on products with ear loops than there are on products with head harnesses,” says Alan Murray, chief executive of the
British Safety Industry Federation.
“That means that it wouldn’t necessarily provide the protection that was required from it.”
Since the outbreak, the government has been scrambling to buy PPE as much of the UK’s national stockpile was found to be out of date.
Among many failed PPE deals since March was a shipment of medical gowns from
Turkey. The RAF was drafted in to fly in the 400,000 gowns but a
UK safety inspection found them unsafe.
Rachel Reeves, Labour shadow Cabinet Office minister, said ministers had failed in their duty and should apologise.
She said: “Many health and care workers experienced inadequate protection, relied on community donations and even bought their own PPE from DIY shops.
“Ministers repeatedly assured the country that things were fine, yet lives of health workers were lost, the infection was spread in health settings while all that time masks bought by the government could not be used for their intended purpose.
“The case for the National Audit Office to investigate the Conservative government’s mishandling of PPE is overwhelming and as well as apologise, ministers must urgently learn lessons to save lives in the future.”
Liberal Democrat MP and chair of the all party parliamentary group on coronavirus Layla Moran said the government has “serious questions to answer over this shocking waste of taxpayers’ money”.
She said: “We urgently need a clear strategy for procuring PPE so that NHS and care staff on the frontline are not left without.
“That should include a review of the process for handing out contracts to prevent these colossal errors from happening again.”
The government has said: “There is a robust process in place to ensure orders are of high quality and meet strict safety standards.”Related... Alyssa Milano Says She 'Felt Like She Was Dying' During Covid-19 Battle Can't My Socially-Distanced Gym Stay Like This Forever? Government Under Pressure To Avoid Exam Results 'Disaster' That Hurts Poorest