SOLOMON HUGHES finds the government went along with a US scheme to distract from Israel’s lethal Gaza blockade with an impractical floating pier scheme – though its own officials knew it wouldn’t work
Empty boasts of money-saving
SOLOMON HUGHES examines questions raised about the Crown Commercial Service’s organisation of cross-departmental spending – and finds Labour sadly committed to ‘more of the same’
THE government celebrated the Crown Commercial Service’s 10th anniversary last month, claiming this special “procurement department” had “saved taxpayers £3.8 billion last year alone.”
But the Crown Commercial Service was central to some of the worst Covid contracts, and arguably sometimes limits competition for government work. Crown Commercial was set up by the Tories, but Rachel Reeves has expressed enthusiasm for its methods, so it may hang around under a Labour government too.
The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) was set up by David Cameron’s privatisation guru Lord Maude in 2014: this Cabinet Office department tries saving money by organising cross-departmental purchasing.
Similar stories
They’re the problem it’s them: SOLOMON HUGHES on the freeloading flunkies of the Labour Party hoovering up VIP tickets to musical and sporting events
Behind a facade of flimsy restrictions, the man who was Tony Blair’s privatisation champion is back in an advisory role, despite the fact he already works for firms that will profit from the selling off of the NHS, writes SOLOMON HUGHES



