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Labour accuses ministers of ‘spraying’ cash at failing firms during pandemic
Health Secretary Matt Hancock is given a demonstration of an automated blood sample testing machine during a visit to Randox Labs in Antrim, Northern Ireland, in September

BORIS JOHNSON’s government has been “spraying” huge sums of public cash at companies that have mostly failed to deliver on contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic, Labour said today.

During Prime Minister’s Questions Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that the Tory government has spent at least £130 million on PR companies’ services this year.

He cited Cabinet Office data showing the money going to 23 communications companies between January and September, adding that the total does not include the cost of special advisers and civil servants working on press matters.

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